


When Karma met Cathy

by Reading5



Category: Assassination Classroom
Genre: F/M, Romance, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-16
Updated: 2019-10-17
Packaged: 2020-06-29 12:28:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 79
Words: 100,935
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19830241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reading5/pseuds/Reading5
Summary: When Cathy asks Karma to tutor her in maths, a special relationship blossoms that helps them navigate whatever life throws at them in their remarkable world.





	1. In search of a tutor

“Come on, you can ask him. He’s not that scary. And it’s in a more fun way than not,” a young teenage girl – a first year student at Kunugigaoka Junior High School – said under her breath as she walked towards one of her classmates. “Hey, Karma,” she called out.  
The boy that she had called out to turned around and looked at her. He was a tall, well built guy and had red hair and golden-brown eyes. “Hi, Cathy,” Karma Akabane replied with a smile. “What’s up?”  
“Nothing much. There’s something that I want to ask you,” Cathy Pravina said unsurely.  
“There is?” Karma replied intrigued.  
“Yeah, well. You’re really good at maths right?”  
“I am,” Karma said with pride, not expecting this girl to mention his favourite subject.  
“Would-would it be all right if you helped me with my maths?” Cathy asked nervously.  
“You want me to help you?” Karma asked with a smile.  
“Yeah.”  
“I have nothing better to do anyway. Where’d you wanna go? My place, your place or the library?”  
“Well, I never study in the library because there are too many people doing the same and I like my own space. I guess we could go to your place but...,”  
“But what?”  
“I think my guardian might get the wrong idea, so it’s probably best that you come over. If you don’t mind.”  
“I agreed to it, so it’s fine by me. But be warned there’s no guarantee that I will go easy on you when it comes down to it.”  
Cathy laughed at that. “I know you well enough by now, Karma, to know that that’s true.”

On the way to Cathy’s place the pair talked about some things.  
“You said you had a guardian. Your parents dead or something?” Karma asked.  
“Or something. They’re living in England while I study here.”  
“Now the English accent makes sense. So they sent their daughter to a different country to study while they’re living it up in England. I have to wonder why that is. But you’re not only from England are you?” Karma asked.  
“Because I’ve been wanting to study in Japan for so long and they finally let me. On the condition that I come here alone. They didn’t want to spend a lot of money on coming all the way here, if it didn’t work out for me. And no, my father is from England, his parents from India and my mum from Japan, but I was born in England.”  
Karma chuckled. “In that case my parents will probably love you. Or at least your heritage. They’re crazy about India. And what about the school? Why they send you here?”  
“Now your name makes sense,” Cathy said with a smile. “Because it’s the best school in Japan. If you’re going to spend money on your daughter studying abroad, why not in the highest ranking one?”  
“That’s some mean logic,” Karma admitted with a smile.  
“What about you? You didn’t inform anyone that you were coming over, but you mentioned them.”  
“Didn’t have to. I live by myself.”  
“Yourself?!” Cathy asked shocked, looking up at her conversation partner. “And I thought my parents were irresponsible. Are they also in some other country?”  
“Yeah, but no idea where. They just spend their time travelling from country to country seeing the world.”  
“That’s horrible. And you don’t mind?”  
Karma smiled down at Cathy. “’Course not. I can do what I want when I want.”  
Cathy laughed. “Yep. Living a life with no reigns is the dream.”  
“Yeah.”  
“We’re there,” Cathy said, looking up at a big apartment complex.  
“No expenses spared I see,” Karma noted, looking at how fancy it just looked from the outside.  
“Don’t be silly. Once you see what the actual apartment looks like, you’ll realise just how mistaken you are.”  
“We’ll see about that. Lead the way.”

They reached the apartment by going up a couple flights of stairs and then Cathy unlocked the door and opened it.  
“I’m home,” Cathy said. “I’ve also brought a classmate with me who could help me with my maths.”  
“I wouldn’t mind if he taught me some maths,” Cathy’s guardian said, eying the new arrival.  
“Alex, inappropriate,” Cathy hissed, pushing her guardian out of the way. “He is far too young for you anyway.”  
“You’re right. But not for you,” Alex said, smiling mischievously at her ward.  
Cathy sighed. “He’s just a classmate, nothing more. Let’s just keep it at that, ok?”  
“Fine,” Alex said, moving out of the way. “You too kids have fun.”  
“I’m sorry about that,” Cathy said to Karma, slightly embarrassed. “She’s got this strange thought about me dating already, even though I’m only 13.”  
“Now I see what you meant by her getting the wrong idea,” Karma said with a chuckle, nearing the dining table where they could study at. “She sure has an interesting mind.”  
“A too active imagination, you mean,” Cathy said with a smile, taking a seat. “Let’s get with the maths.”  
And they did. Cathy was finally able to understand some of the equations that she had been over hundreds of times in her head, thanks to Karma’s ruthless teaching methods, that is.  
“Ok, I finished the exercise. Is it all right if we take a break for now?” Cathy asked.  
“Yeah, sure. You deserve it,” Karma said with a smile. “Can I ask you something?”  
“Sure,” Cathy said, going to the kitchen to get some refreshments.  
“Why do you want to be so great in maths? Your overall score isn’t that bad and even if you failed maths, you wouldn’t get shipped off to E Class.”  
E Class was a class where people with bad points got sent to and because of that most people of the main campus disrespected it. It was located on the top of a mountain close to the main campus.  
“I don’t really care about the whole shipping off to E Class business. I just want to take out those arrogant pricks of our class.”  
Karma laughed. “So you want to defeat our classmates with great points? That is how it is at our school. But why?”  
“Because,” Cathy said with a plotting smile, “if I can get those idiots to fear me, they might just learn something about respect.”  
“You’re actually more interesting than I first thought, Cathy,” Karma said, smiling up at her. “I might consider making this extra tuition thing a regular thing. Then I could also start charging.”  
“Or you could do it as a favour to a friend?” Cathy suggested, putting down the refreshments on the table.  
“A friend?”  
“Yes, Karma, a friend. I know the whole concept of friendship is pretty foreign to you, but you could at least try.”  
“Guess I could,” Karma said, smiling at his new friend.


	2. Ally

A few months later Karma befriended someone else from his class – a boy called Nagisa Shiota. They had become friends because Nagisa had been reading a magazine about a movie – Sonic Ninja. Karma had been interested in watching the movie because of the director and Cathy liked action movies. Because of all this they had decided to let Nagisa tag along.  
At some point when only Nagisa and Karma had been hanging out, Nagisa had been witness to Karma’s more aggressive side when he saw his friend beat up some delinquents while clearly enjoying it. This again showed him a gap in skill between the two of them.  
The next day during school he found Cathy, waiting by a windowsill, undoubtedly for Karma. He neared and greeted her.  
She smiled at him. “Oh, hi there, Nagisa.” She saw a different look in his eyes. “What’s wrong?”  
He didn’t even know how to put into words what was wrong or even how she would react.  
She sighed. “He beat some punks up, didn’t he?”  
Nagisa nodded. “You know he does that?”  
She shrugged. “He’s been picking fights for as long as I can remember. Obviously he goes a bit overboard, but he enjoys it, so it’s fine.” She smiled wryly.  
“But it’s still bad. What if he gets caught?”  
She laughed. “Oh, Nagisa, you sweet boy, do you really think it matters? In most cases the delinquents are the ones who ‘provoke him into fighting’ so he’ll be fine either way.”  
“How are you alright with this?” Nagisa asked, still shocked by everything she was saying and most importantly, how she was saying it.  
She shrugged. “I like him, plain and simple. The guys who he beats up also deserve it in my eyes and besides that we have lots of fun. He’s even the one that got me into playing video games.”  
Not a minute later Karma was standing beside her, smirking. “You should have said you were gonna praise me like that, then I would’ve come much earlier.”  
“Nah. I’d rather not boost your ego more than necessary.” Her smile turned more cheerful.  
He nodded. “Then maybe you should just be quiet.”  
She looked at him challengingly. “Karma, you have no control over what I will or won’t say. That’s my choice.”  
He moved his hand over her head, making her touch it and pout. “Yeah. It’d also be a waste of a perfectly good talent.”


	3. Caught off guard

However the friendship between Karma and Nagisa was short-lived because of an incident that happened in a fast food restaurant.  
“Hey, Karma!” Cathy shouted, waving at her nearing friend.  
“Hey, Cathy,” Karma politely said back.  
“What’s up? Where’s Nagisa?”  
“I think it’s best that we don’t hang out with him anymore,” Karma said dismissively.  
“What? But you guys got along really well. Did you scare him away or something?” Cathy knew that her friend had the tendency to beat people up and that not everyone was as cool with it as her.  
“No, nothing like that.”  
“Well, what is it then?”  
“It’s not important,” Karma said, wanting to move on to something else.  
“Like hell it’s not important, Karma! Tell me what happened.”  
“Don’t laugh at me, ok?”  
“Laugh? Karma why would I laugh at you for something like this?”  
“It felt like he’d literary stabbed me in the back,” Karma said, looking down.  
“What? But he’s so small and fragile. He doesn’t even look like he could hurt a fly.”  
“I know and yet...,” Karma said with an irritated smile.  
Cathy sighed. “I can’t say that I entirely understand what’s going on, but I can’t have my best friend hanging around a person that would make him feel that way. So I accept it. Guess we’ll just have to put up with each other for the rest of school.”  
“Which isn’t all that bad,” Karma said with a smile.  
“Not at all,” Cathy said, smiling back.


	4. Suspension

Now Karma and Cathy were nearing their third and last year of junior high and things were about to take a turn for the worst. Karma had beaten up a bully who had been harassing one of the other students. However unfortunately for him the bully had been a student of the main building and the victim had been a student from Class 3-E. This caused an argument between Karma and his homeroom teacher – because Karma had beaten up someone with a better future – and his teacher made the decision to send Karma to Class 3-E after his suspension ended.  
“You serious?” Cathy asked with indignation once Karma had told her the news.  
“Yeah, that’s what he said,” Karma said with a sigh.  
“That bastard. He’d said that as long as you were in the right he’d defend you and even though you still were, you get this crap. He’s gonna pay,” Cathy said, an evil plotting smile appearing on her face.  
“No, Cathy.”  
“Huh?”  
“Where would the fun be if both demons got sent to E Class? One of us has to stay behind so the people remember that we can’t be messed with no matter what happens.”  
“Fine. But can I at least say what’s on my mind to him?”  
“Yes, as long as it doesn’t send you to the principal’s office.”  
“Guess we’ll see,” Cathy said with a sparkle in her eyes.

And see the class did. When the homeroom teacher entered, he could already sense a menacing vibe in the class room and when he turned around he could see Cathy staring at him with evil intent in her eyes.  
“Good morning, everyone.”  
“Good morning, Õno-sensei,” the class responded.  
“Yes, it is quite a good morning, isn’t it, Õno-sensei?” Cathy said with a menacing smile.  
“Pravina...?”  
“Just saying. After all that’s happened. You could almost forget everything that’s happened. How you so sweetly suspended someone who had been protecting a fellow student against a bully, but since the bully was from this nice building he was forgiven and as you so nicely reminded the suspended student, this bully had a better future than the victim. It’s quite something.” Cathy chuckled mockingly. “When people can do what they want to people below them. Should be used to this by now. And to add icing to the cake, the teacher who suspended the student was afraid that this would put a wrench in his precious career,” she said, leaning on her hand and looking straight at Õno. “But it’s still quite surprising that no one does or says anything about it. Apart from me. But who would listen to a silly old girl like me who couldn’t solve a simple maths formula until, you’ve guessed it,” she said pointing at the teacher, “the suspended student helped me. ’Course I don’t intend on going anywhere, I’m sure we’ll have loads of fun together, don’t ya, teach?”  
This monologue shocked the whole classroom into an even more intense silence than earlier. And who wouldn’t be, after someone dared to talk to a teacher like that? After a short pause Õno sent her out of the classroom to think about what she’d said. Cathy obliged and just before she left the room she smiled at him with a glint in her eyes.

The rest of the day Cathy kept her menacing aura, mainly because she liked the feel of it and how people looked at her.  
“She’s not really hiding it anymore,” one of Cathy’s classmates – Rukasu – commented.  
“Can you blame her though?” Rukasu’ friend – a girl called Anjerika – asked. “They did suspend her best friend.”  
“I know. But still...she could stand to be a bit kinder. She wasn’t like that at the beginning.”  
“You think Karma corrupted her?” Anjerika asked with a smile.  
“No, I’m just commenting on my observation,” Rukasu countered with a smile.  
“Good, ’cause I think that all Karma did in this case was give her more confidence to share her scary side. So obviously she would do it when he lands in such a mess.”  
“Do you think she was right though? About our school being mean to the people of E Class.”  
“Pretty much. Unfortunately we can’t do anything about it.”  
“We could talk to her. Say that we support what she said.”  
“You want to approach the demoness?” Anjerika said with an expecting smile.  
“We could try.”  
“Ok, let’s go then.”  
The pair walked to the playground where they could see Cathy reading a book by herself.  
“Hello,” Anjerika said with a smile.  
“What do you want?” Cathy asked, not taking her eyes off the book she was reading.  
“We were wondering whether you wanted to talk to us.”  
“Why would I want that? You can see I’m reading right? Or at least trying to do so,” Cathy said, glaring at the pair.  
Anjerika took a step backwards.  
“Yes, of course. I just wanted to say that I agree with what you said in class earlier today.”  
“You do?” Cathy asked, a smile appearing on her face. “Well, thank you, Anjerika, that’s sweet of you to say.”  
“You know who I am?”  
“’Course I do. I know that your full name is Anjerika Eniwa and your friend’s over there is Rukasu Watai. I pay attention in class, you know?”  
“Um, ok. So do you mind if we sit and talk with you for a while?”  
Cathy sighed, put a bookmark in her book and closed it. “Guess it couldn’t hurt. At least I know we have something we agree on.”  
And so they started talking and became friends.


	5. Assassin

The day had finally arrived that Karma was allowed to go back to school. He had been informed that what he would be doing in Class 3-E would be more than following the subjects laid out for third year students, it would also include trying to assassinate a super yellow being with tentacles while it tried to teach the class. This super being had so far already destroyed three quarters of the moon and he said that if the class couldn’t kill him by the end of the year, Earth would have the same fate. So far no one had been able to harm this being – which the class decided to call Korosensei because of his knack for not being killable – but Karma was prepared to show the class just how cut out he was for this mission which would give the killer 10 billion yen as a reward.  
Karma’s first attempt in taking down Korosensei had been pretty straight forward. He had introduced himself and let Korosensei shake his hand. What Korosensei hadn’t known however was that Karma had cut up a knife – especially designed to only hurt Korosensei – up and stuck it to his hand with duck tape. This had made Korosensei’s hand break into sludge and had put him of guard, so Karma had gone in for the kill by pulling out another knife and trying to attack Korosensei. Unfortunately he hadn’t been able to land a hit because Korosensei could dodge his attacks at a speed of Mach 20.  
The rest of the day Karma continued attempting to kill Korosensei and every time he was able to dodge the attacks. After a while Korosensei even thought of interesting ways to get back at Karma. At the end of the day Karma went to sit on branch hanging above a cliff and tried to think of some other plan to take down Korosensei.  
“Come on man, I’m telling you not to sweat it,” Nagisa, who had also been sent to Class 3-E because of his bad points, said. “We’ll do it as a group. You can have the sneakiest most fool proof plan in the world ready to go, but if Korosensei’s got his eye on you, forget it. He’s not like other teachers.”  
“Other teacher’s huh?” Karma repeated absentmindedly, thinking about his old homeroom teacher. “You don’t understand. I have to do it on my own. You mind if I ask? Would it tick you off to die in some random place?”  
“Oh, Karma,” the cheery voice of Korosensei said. “I feel like taking care of you exceptionally carefully today. If trying to kill me tickles your fancy, I certainly don’t mind spiffing you up,” Korosensei said with a plotting look.  
Karma smiled at Korosensei and stood up on the branch. “Just so we’re on the same page here? You consider yourself a teacher above everything else?”  
“That’s right,” Korosensei said nodding.  
“Cool. And you wouldn’t think twice about putting your life on the line to save a student?”  
“I wouldn’t. What sort of teacher would I be if I did?”  
“That’s awesome. Good to know. So I can kill you,” Karma said, pointing his gun with anti-Korosensei bullets at the teacher and letting himself fall of the branch. “I knew there had to be a way,” he said as he let himself free fall to the ground.  
Nagisa shocked at his classmate’s action, gasped and went towards the cliff edge.  
_What’s it going to be, teach?_ Karma wondered with a smile. _Are you going to swoop down and save me and get blasted or are you the sort of teacher who lets one of their kids die?_  
Just before Karma could hit the ground however, Korosensei made a web out of his tentacles and managed to save Karma just in time. “Well done. A splendidly pre-meditated assassination attempt. Full marks,” Korosensei said from below Karma. “Neat, huh? I know your body couldn’t handle being picked out of freefall at the speed of sound. What a tangled and sticky web we weave, huh?” Korosensei said, appearing next to Karma.  
Karma struggled to get free from the tentacle web. “What the hell? Is there anything these tentacles aren’t capable of?” he asked irritated.  
“Can’t shoot me now, can you?” Korosensei said and started to laugh. “Oh and for future reference, students do not die on my watch. Ever. Take that to heart for the next time you jump.”  
_I got nothing,_ Karma thought with an irritated smile. _Un fricking believable. He won’t die. The teacher in him especially._  
Once Karma and Korosensei were back at the top, Nagisa asked: “I don’t get it. How were you so calm the whole time?”  
“Uuuh, no big. What really sucks is that that was my best bet. Nothing I come up with even touches it.”  
“Oh,” Korosensei said disappointed. “Run out of ideas already? But I have an entire beauty regiment ready for you. Come on. There is no way you can be this big of a pushover.”  
_I still feel like killing something,_ Karma thought and then stood up with a small smile. _Except it’s different this time somehow._ “No worries, teach. You’re still dead meat.”  
“That’s the spirit. Never give up,” Korosensei said proudly. _It seems my tender-loving care has paid off._  
“Well let’s head back, Nagisa. Maybe we can grab some food on the way,” Karma said, playing around with a purse.  
Korosensei noticed what Karma had in his hand and said shocked, “That’s my purse.”  
“Come on, teach. You’ve got to stop leaving stuff unattended in the faculty lounge.”  
“Give it back!”  
“Here you go,” Karma said, throwing over the purse.  
Korosensei quickly looked inside the purse and noticed that it was empty. “Hey...uh...this is empty,” he said nervously.  
“There wasn’t much in to begin with. Call it a donation,” Karma said smiling at Korosensei.  
“Whyyyyyy?” Korosensei asked shocked. “A donation? A donation?”  
On the way home from school, Nagisa asked Karma something, “Were you really serious about earlier?”  
“What? Scared I was gonna die?” Karma mocked.  
“Maybe a little. But I think there’s someone else who would be more upset.”  
“Who?” Karma wondered. Then it hit him. “Crap, I didn’t think about that. If she finds out she’s gonna kill me.”  
“You’re scared of a girl?” Nagisa asked shocked.  
“She’s more deadly than she appears. Especially when it comes down to words. She’s got a powerful tongue. Don’t underestimate her. And don’t tell her. They didn’t nickname her the demoness for nothing.”  
“Um Karma...,” Nagisa said, wondering whether his friend had realised what he’d just implied.  
“Huh?” Karma asked confused.  
“Nothing. Don’t worry, I won’t. We’re not allowed to tell anyone anyway.”  
“Good. Thank you, Nagisa,” Karma said relieved that he wouldn’t have to face the wrath of his best friend.


	6. School trip

Apart from getting lessons from Korosensei, Class 3-E had their gym lessons from a member of the Ministry of Defence – Tadaomi Karasuma – and their foreign language lessons from a professional assassin – Irina Jelavic – who later got the nickname Professor Bitch from the students because of her initial condescending behaviour towards the students.  
Today was the day of the Kyoto school trip. Naturally all the classes up to Class D got to go in first class, while Class E was stuck in second class. Entering the coach, some students of Class D made fun of the others for having to endure second class, even the teacher joined in. Then they were surprised to see Jelavic in far too revealing clothing for a teacher, this caused them to look at her shocked. Though she was still asked to change by Karasuma.  
Once the people of Class D had gone inside, Cathy popped her head out. “I’m sorry if they were rude to you. They really should learn something about respect.” Then she went back to her coach. The others looked at the place she had been there before, most of them had never interacted with her, let alone seen her and yet she was apologising to them. Who was this girl?  
Cathy sat down with a sigh as she looked at the people around here. _This is going to be tiring,_ she could already tell. The class had been divided into groups of six, which the students had been allowed to choose. So naturally her first choices had been Anjerika and Rukasu, but then other people also had to join her group. She knew it was a horrible thing to think, but she really did not like anyone else from her class, so getting three other partners had been such a pain for her. _At least it’s just a few days._  
After the events of the first day in Kyoto, all the guys of Class E came together to pick their favourite girl. Once most of the guys had gone through them, Karma entered the room. They gave him the list and told him to choose one. He looked at the list, confused. In all cases his natural instinct would tell him to pick his best friend, he could have fun with her no matter what. But someone out of the class. Who? Who could be a good choice from his class? He thought long and hard about it and eventually said, “Okuda.”  
Not only were his classmates confused about the fact that he had been struggling to pick someone, but also by the fact that he had chosen someone so unlike him. “Why?”  
“Guess she could help me with my pranks by brewing stuff,” he said casually.  
They nodded in response.

On Cathy’s side of things, once they arrived in Kyoto, the group looked all over. She was extremely excited at seeing all the places where people had been assassinated and the nice buildings. She also loved the food. It was all enough for her to forget that she was stuck with three people that she didn’t like. Then the time came for them to go back. This time, however, Cathy didn’t sit down.  
“Hi, guys,” she said to Anjerika and Rukasu.  
“Yes.”  
“I’m going out for a bit. For some fresh air.”  
“Cathy, we just came from the fresh air.”  
“Not that kind,” she said, looking at her classmates.  
They nodded in understanding, then she left.  
“Seriously, such a pain,” she said as she leant against the wall outside her coach. She looked towards the second class coach. “I’m sure you’re having loads of fun.”  
She sighed and closed her eyes.  
“You know, it’s not really safe standing here with your eyes closed like that,” said a male voice. In it she could hear that he was smiling.  
She opened her eyes and looked at him with a smile. “I doubt a train is that dangerous, Karma.”  
Karma shrugged. “You never know. What you doing here?”  
“Needed some fresh air after spending so much time with my class.”  
He chuckled. “It must have been suffocating.”  
“You have no idea. But onto another question, what are you doing here?” She straightened herself up and looked him in the eyes.  
“Just had to do something.” He thought for a second. “Want to come with me?”  
Her smiled turned intrigued as she raised an eyebrow. “To your coach? I’m sure you know this, but I only have a ticket for first class.”  
“Aah, we can just as well have someone else take the blame.”  
She chuckled. “No, Karma. But then again, blaming one of my class mates or even the teacher would be fun.”  
He started walking and indicated her to follow. “Or we could pretend I kidnapped you.”  
“Yeah. Like anyone’d believe that.”  
He smiled his demonic smile. “Why wouldn’t they?”  
“’Cause out of all the things you are, in no way are you a kidnapper. It’s just not in your nature.”  
“Maybe something changed then. Just for a while.”  
“Karma, there’s something really important I have to tell you.” She beckoned him to come closer. Once he was close enough, she whispered, “You’re an idiot.”  
He smiled as he stood back up. “Maybe. But at least I’m not a shorty.”  
She rolled her eyes and shook her head, though the smile showed that she didn’t really hate it that much.  
They reached the coach and Karma said, “Wait here for a sec. I’m just gonna tell ’em that you’re coming.”  
“Ok.”  
He opened the doors and once they were closed behind him, he said, “Yo, teach.”  
Korosensei looked at him. “What is it, Karma?”  
“It’s alright if I bring a friend over from another class, right?”  
“Well, the ticket,” he said nervously.  
He smiled daringly. “Really. Can’t you cover?”  
“Sure,” he said, hoping that it wouldn’t come to that.  
Then Karma turned around and opened the door. The girl who had spoken to some of them earlier entered and bowed. “Thank you for having me.”  
They all nodded as a new question arose: How was she friends with their crazy classmate?  
He led her to where he had been sitting with his group mates, who all introduced themselves. Though she still knew who one of them was.  
“Hi, Nagisa. Long time no see,” she said with a kind smile.  
“Yeah. Hi, Cathy.”  
“Wait. How do you know her, Nagisa?” Kayano asked.  
“She’s in the same class that Karma and I were in, Class D.”  
She nodded her head in understanding.  
“Though I haven’t seen you before.”  
“I’m Kayano. I transferred to this year.”  
“And you’re stuck in E Class from the get go. I’m sorry.”  
“Oh, no. It’s fine. It’s a fun class.”  
She chuckled. “That I’m sure it is.” Then Cathy turned to the other girls.  
“Hi,” a girl with twin braids said shyly. “I’m Okuda.”  
“Hi,” she said with a kind smile. “I’m pleased to meet you.” Cathy looked at her with an even kinder smile that usual.  
“Um...Cathy, what’s wrong?” Nagisa asked, since Karma seemed not to be paying much attention to the other stuff around him as he just smiled at her.  
“Sorry. It’s just, she reminds me of my old self,” Cathy said as she took her eyes off the girl.  
“Huh? Old self, how?”  
“Well, yeah. I used to be pretty shy too in the past.” She pointed at the boy standing beside her. “Until this demon came along and changed that.”  
He chuckled. “You don’t have to make it sound like a bad thing, Cathy. And we both know you had a demon inside of you before you met me.”  
She smiled as she cocked her head at him. “Still ’cause of you it came out. But, you know, in some ways it is a bad thing.”  
“Yeah. For the people who dare go against you.”  
She just shook her head and smiled. Not noticing that the teasing between her and her friend had caused the majority of Class E to look at the pair dumbstruck. After that she introduced herself to the other two, Sugino and Kanzaki.  
Once introductions were over, Kayano stood up and said, “I’m gonna sit somewhere else.”  
Cathy, realising what was going on, said. “Wait. You don’t have to. Um...” For one of the few times in her life, she had absolutely nothing to say.  
“It’s alright.”  
“I could stand,” she said in a small voice.  
“Interesting,” Karma said. “See how long you can do it without falling over.”  
She gave him her usual look of conveying his was being an idiot. “That would be interesting. Of course you’d have to join as well then. See who can last longer.”  
He nodded. “Sure.”  
“With a handicap.”  
“Why? Scared I’ll win without one?”  
“Yeah. ’Cause your build’s pretty much shouting that it can withstand that kinda stuff.”  
“Guess we’ll see then.” He looked at the now empty seats. “After we’ve played a game of cards.”  
“Sure.” She sat down next to him closely and got dealt some cards. “So which game is it?” When the game was explained, Cathy smiled in a way very much resembling Karma’s demonic smile. “Oh, I know that game. If played correctly it can take ages. It’s a truly competitive game that shows how good you are at thinking ahead.”  
So the group played. At some point, Cathy caught Karma looking in her direction. She smiled at him playfully. “You better not be trying to cheat, Karma.”  
“Now why would I use such an underhanded trick when I know I’m gonna win against you anyway?”  
“Maybe ’cause that knowledge is false but you still want to win.”  
He rubbed her head affectionately. “Nah. It’s just ’cause you’re so small that I can see your cards without even trying.”  
“Damn it,” she said as she pulled her cards closer, slightly pushing her head up to indicate that she wasn’t minding the affection, it was just not the time.  
“Guess you were probably a small baby as well then,” he said as he leant back and smiled at her teasingly.  
“That would also mean that you were a freakishly tall baby. So I don’t think that’s relevant.”  
“Freakishly tall? Where? My dear Cathy, you do realise I’ve got a normal height for my age?”  
“Yeah. But I have a feeling that this isn’t the end of your growth, so I know that one day I’ll be right to call you that.”  
He laughed. “Well, I’m looking forward to that day.”  
In response she just smiled shyly and looked back towards her now hidden card.  
As the conversation between friends had gone on, some people had started staring at them. Korosensei had been taking notes furiously on their interactions with each other. Then Okajima, the class pervert, said, “What the hell? How did Karma manage to land someone as hot as her?”  
The playful look in Karma’s eyes disappeared as they hardened. “I wouldn’t call her hot if I were you. Far too disrespectful if you ask me and that’s just a comment on her body. Just call her pretty or cute.”  
Cathy giggled. “Yeah. That would be nice. But you know, you shouldn’t pay attention to mindless comments from other people like that.” She turned towards Okajima with a smile. “Oh and he managed to ‘land me’ as you so nicely said, by being a great friend and nice fellow demon.”  
He was shocked into silence and sat back down.  
“You do realise what you just said didn’t make sense, right?” Karma said beside her. “Me, being a nice demon?”  
She smiled up at him. “It’s more likely than you think.”  
“Hey, um...so, Pravina?” Sugino said.  
“Oh, you can call me by my first name if you want. Sorry for not saying it sooner.”  
“Ok. Cathy, how did you too actually become friends?”  
A smirk appeared on Karma’s face.  
“Ah, well, you see the thing is Karma’s really good at maths and I kinda wanted to beat our classmates. So, I asked for some help.”  
“And he gave it to you?”  
“Well, yeah. He was actually pretty chill with it. Though it’s obvious that his tactics were ruthless.”  
Karma chuckled. “Obviously. You had to succeed after all.”  
“True.”  
“Wait, what?”  
Cathy went silent. She still remembered what she had said to her friend three years ago, but to say it to these nice people seemed kinda strange.  
“She said she wanted to take out those arrogant pricks of our class with great points because if she could get those ‘idiots’ as she had so nicely put it to fear her, they might just learn something about respect.”  
Sugino’s mouth fell open. _Totally demons._  
On the other hand, Cathy was looking at Karma slightly annoyed and shoved him. “You didn’t have to say all that, you idiot.”  
“And why not? It’s just another thing that shows how great you are,” he said with a teasing smile.  
“Because,” a blush started forming on her cheeks, “I’ve only just met these people.”  
“Aah, so you want them to get used to your kind side before they realise you have a truly demonic side.”  
“Partially. I mean, their confused looks when they first met me were quite great.”  
He chuckled. “That’s true.”  
Unfortunately it seemed like the train was about to arrive, so Cathy said goodbye to everyone. She stood up and said after bowing. “Thanks for having me. Till we meet again.” Then she turned to Karma. “And I guess I’ll see you sooner.”  
“Or once we’re back, if I’m allowed to walk you home.”  
“Sure,” she said with a smile.


	7. Game of death

Later the class got a new student in the class called Ritsu or as she was called before – Autonomously Thinking Fixed Artillery. Ritsu was actually a computer program that had been programmed to kill Korosensei and make the adjustments needed to kill him later. But since she’d been such a disruption during the lessons Korosensei had changed her personality a bit so that now she was a fun loving girl. Later she also managed to upload herself onto everyone’s phone so she could become more mobile.  
After another lesson, Jelavic let herself fall down in a chair in the teachers faculty lounge and groaned: “Teaching is such a pain in the ass.”  
“At least the students are finally taking a liking to you,” Karasuma, who was looking through some documents, said.  
“Oh, yeah, sure ’cause that’s a load off. Come on, I’m an assassin. I’m supposed to be killing people, not hunting octopus with brats.”  
After getting mad at Korosensei, who was also there, for his inappropriate behaviour, Jelavic left the room. _I have better things to do than to twiddle my thumbs in this dump,_ she thought standing by a window. _If I could just bag the squirmy bastard._ But because she had been so lost in thought, she hadn’t noticed the trap that had been set out for her. The trap was a rope and it had taken hold of Jelavic by her neck. _A snare trap? Who the hell?_ She thought as she tried to free herself.  
“You catch me off guard Irina,” a man with a Russian accent said. “Watching you babysit a bunch of kids. It’s like TV comedy show.”  
“Sir,” Jelavic said. “Why are you here?”  
“What’s going on here?” Karasuma who had just arrived asked. “This is your last warning, pal. Let her go.”  
“Don’t worry about it. She knows how to handle herself,” the Russian man said as he cut the rope.  
“Right...” Karasuma said as Jelavic fell to the floor. “So, have we met each other somewhere or is it just me?”  
“We haven’t met in person but you’ll know my reputation. I do freelance work for government. As matter of fact I’m the one who arranged to bring Irina Jelavic into the mix. I’m human resources man.”  
_Lovro the assassin,_ Karasuma thought shocked. _One of the most dangerous men who has ever lived, now retired. Trains assassins and books gigs all over the world. At the crucial point he came through for us. Jelavic is his prodigy. But why is he here now?_  
“Does Korosensei fellow happen to be near?” Lovro asked.  
“I think he’s in Shanghai picking up some almond jelly. Left about half hour ago. Should be back any minute,” Karasuma replied.  
“So rumours of his speed haven’t been exaggerated. Well good,” Lovro said looking at Jelavic who was still sitting on the ground. “Glad I came when I did. Run along home, Irina. I’ll take it from here. It’s clear you’re out of your depth.”  
Jelavic gasped.  
“Don’t get me wrong. On undercover jobs you’re the best. Once your covers been blown however. Well, let’s face it. You’re no chocolate cordaid.”  
“You have to give me a chance, sir,” Jelavic pleaded, getting up. “I can do this. I know I can.”  
Instead of saying anything Lovro went on to subdue Jelavic. In a matter of seconds he had her hand pinned to her back and his thumb against her throat. “What do I always say? Everyone has their strengths and their weaknesses. A good assassin knows when to go home.”  
“Congratulations,” Korosensei said, pulling the pair apart. “You’re exactly half-wrong and half-right.”  
“Hey, hey. Cool it, game show,” Karasuma said.  
“Another ridiculous nickname?” Korosensei asked with indignation. “Are you determined to never call me Korosensei?”  
“It’s you,” Lovro said, looking up at Korosensei.  
“I agree. As an assassin our beloved Irina is nothing special. Frankly she’s crap,” Korosensei said.  
“Nobody’s asking you!” Jelavic said angrily.  
“Having said that, she belongs here. She is in fact a perfect fit for this class.”  
“Huh?” Jelavic wondered aloud.  
“To prove my point. I propose a kill off. Let’s see which of you passes. Who is the better assassin? The rules are simple: whoever kills our friend Mister Karasuma first is the winner,” Korosensei said in a presenter like fashion.  
“Excuse me. Why the hell am I the target all of a sudden?” Karasuma asked.  
“It has to be you, silly. I’m unkillable. Here you have all day tomorrow,” Korosensei said, handing over a pair of daggers meant to hurt him.  
“Oh, I see. It’s to be a pretend assassination,” Lovro said, checking out his new weapon. “Why not? Heh. There are worse ways to pass time.”  
Karasuma sighed. “Suit yourself,” he said as he walked away.  
“Is this your idea of sticking up for me?” Jelavic asked Korosensei.  
“Huh?”  
“Shut up! I know what this is. You’re hedging your bets on me because you think I’m easier to manage them some new schmuck. Right?” Jelavic shouted. “Right? Well if you don’t think I’ve got what it takes to kill Karasuma and you, somebody’s in for a rude awakening,” she said and then stormed off.

The next day the showdown was set into motion.  
First Jelavic tried to give Karasuma some tea with muscle relaxer which he denied.  
Then later that day when everyone was in the staff room the door was suddenly opened and Lovro attack Karasuma with his fake knife, which Karasuma managed to stop. After Lovro was released it was seen that he had sustained a bruise on his left wrist.  
“Sir, your hand,” Jelavic said.  
“I suppose I can’t expect to kill him today in this condition,” Lovro said with an irritated smile.  
“What kind of talk is that?” Korosensei asked nervously. He was nervous because earlier that day it had been decided that if neither could ‘kill’ Karasuma, Korosensei would stand still for a whole second and Karasuma could attack him in whichever way he wanted. “Nonsense! That’s what it is. You can do it. Think positive!”  
“Even if I wasn’t a relic, even if I could kill that man, you’d still be out of my liege. Same goes for Irina when you get out with. If I can’t do it, neither can she.”  
“Very well. If giving up is your choice, I’m not going to stop you. But at least stick around to support your prodigy,” Korosensei said, standing behind Jelavic. “After all, what anyone else might say about her skills, she’s certainly proven herself a capable wielder of death before.”  
“Hph. Once upon a time, yes,” Lovro said and then left the room.  
“Level with me. Ok? Do you honestly believe that I can take down someone like Karasuma?” Jelavic asked Korosensei.  
“Of course,” Korosensei said, moving over to face Jelavic. “I can’t speak to what you may or may not have learned at the feet of your guru. But based on what I’ve seen you’ve accomplished to get here, I’d be a dolt to think otherwise. If you want others to believe in you, you’ve got to believe in you. Show them what you’ve got. Karasuma, this Lovro fellow, the children.”

Later that day Karasuma was having lunch under a tree when he was approached by Jelavic holding a fake knife.  
“Mind if we talk for a sec? You and me,” Jelavic said.  
“What now? I’m aware this is a pretend assassination, but I’m done screwing around.”  
“Ooh, come on. Don’t be such a stick in the mud,” Jelavic said, removing her jacket to reveal her more than ample bosom. “I’m just a girl willing to do whatever it takes to stay here. You know that about me,” she said. “No more screwing around. Unless that’s what you prefer in exchange. One good turn deserves another. Yeah? You just call the game.”  
_It’s a simple as that, huh?_ Karasuma thought. _If I take her knife, this nonsense will be over._ “All right, fine. Jab me. Just be quick about it though,” he said.  
“Huh? You’re a good sport,” Jelavic said. “Kay, ready or not, here I come,” she said happily from behind the tree with her knife in her hand. Then she pulled onto a string which set of a trap for Karasuma and caught him on his leg, making him dangle upside down from the tree. Then she ran towards him and landed on top of him. “Say goodnight,” she said, pushing her knife downwards.  
“Taking it easy, huh?” Karasuma said, stopping Jelavic’s attack.  
_Great. If this comes down to strength, I’m boned. What am I supposed to...?_ “Karasuma?” she said sweetly. “Let me kill you?” she asked with puppy dog eyes. “Pretty please.”  
“Pretty sure it’s bad form for a killer to beg for permission,” Karasuma said angrily. “This is ridiculous.” Then he sighed and let his hands fall beside him, which resulted in the knife making contact with his chest. “Fine. Better to get it over with than to spend all day listening to you whine.” _It’s not like I lost anything. Korosensei was full of it. He’d never just stand there and let me take pot shots at him,_ Karasuma thought.  
Jelavic sighed exhaustedly and went back to the building. On the way there she walked into Lovro. “Sir, I-”  
“You’re the worst student I’ve ever had. But as a teacher I don’t hold a candle to you. You can kill him, do it.”  
“Absolutely! Yes, sir,” Jelavic said happily.

The next day was the blockbuster premier in Hawaii for the new Sonic Ninja that Korosensei had been looking forward to for ages. After school Korosensei went outside and said, “Okey dokey then, I best be on my way.”  
“Korosensei, wait up,” Nagisa called. “We want to come with you. Please,” Nagisa asked, standing next to Karma.  
“Oh hoh, fans of the franchise?” Korosensei wondered.  
“Oh yeah. We’ve been waiting for the sequel for like forever,” Nagisa said excitedly.  
“I’m a little surprised you’re into comic books Karma,” he said turning towards Karma who was standing next to Nagisa.  
“It’s actually not my thing. I really dig the director though. It’s his first genre film,” Karma said, playing with a strand of hair.  
“Well then, children, let’s go to the movies,” Korosensei said, pulling Karma and Nagisa into his coat. “Brace yourselves for a flight through the stratosphere at supersonic speed.”  
“Ok, I know we asked him on a whim, but I’m having second thoughts,” Nagisa said nervously. “What did we just sigh in for?”  
“Yeah well. If we survive, maybe next time we’ll think of safety first,” Karma said.  
“Now, don’t be afraid. I’ll accelerate gently as to not shock your systems,” Korosensei said and then took off into the air.  
“All right. I’m surprised there’s not more wind or whatever. Is it ’cause you’re using your head to deflect most of it?” Nagisa asked.  
“Excellent powers of observation Nagisa. The secret you see is my aerodynamic skin,” Korosensei said. “Normally my skin is soft and squishy. When exposed to high pressure however it hardens like a shell. That’s how it can withstand the effects of Mach 20 speed. Did you know that something very much like my skin plays a role in your day to day life?” Korosensei asked, getting out some instruments. “To explain, let’s explore the concept of...” Korosensei said getting lost in his explanation. “And that is how bullet proof vests are manufactured,” Korosensei said, landing on Hawaii. “Utilising the fascinating science behind to latency. I’ve made you that much smarter in the time it took to catch Sonic Ninja,” Korosensei said, putting on a human disguise.  
“We’re really here. We’re in Hawaii.”  
Once they were in the cinema Karma said: “Man, it’s really freezing in here.”  
“It’s an island thing. They’re all about cranking the AC. Let’s bugle you up so no one catches pneumonia,” Korosensei said, handing Karma a pink blanket with hearts.  
Karma looked at the blanket and decided to hand it over to Nagisa instead of having the humiliation of being seen in public with a pink blanket on him.  
“Hey, don’t they cut out a bunch of stuff for distribution overseas. We’re getting the real deal here?” Nagisa asked.  
“Where’s your sense of adventure? It shouldn’t be all that different from what we get back home once it comes out over there and if it is, so much the better. It will be like seeing the same artwork from different angles. Here,” Korosensei said, extending parts of his tentacles to Karma and Nagisa. “My tentacles can be used as earphones. I’ll walk you through a running-commentary as we watch just in case any nuances of this version go over your head. Now sit back and enjoy the show,” Korosensei said, handing over some popcorn and drinks.  
_Wow, this is so awesome,_ Nagisa thought as he watched the movie. _A brooding hero trying to save the world. Kids my age eat this stuff up. But what about Korosensei? Is he really into the whole superhero thing?_ Nagisa wondered as he turned over to look at Korosensei who was blushing with excitement, but for an obvious different reason.  
“This would be even better in 3D,” Korosensei said excitedly.  
“Kill me if you must,” the villain in the movie said, removing his mask. “But first behold my true identity.”  
“My brother?” the heroine asked shocked.

“What a cliff-hanger,” Nagisa said with a smile, back at the building where Class 3-E is taught. “They really know what they’re doing. I’ll go nuts waiting for the next instalment.”  
“I don’t know,” Karma said disappointed. “I feel like the filmmaker copped out making the villain the brother.”  
“Well,” Nagisa said slightly shocked as his friend’s review.  
“Long lost siblings. Can you imagine?” Korosensei said, crying intensely. “Merciful heaven. How cruel fate can be.”  
“Well what do you know? Guess it really got to him. Damn I bet,” Karma said.  
“Thank you for taking us with you, sir,” Nagisa said, bowing slightly.  
“Goodnight,” Karma said, turning around to go back.  
“Yes, yes. Goodnight children. Be careful on the way home. I’d like you to write a detailed synopsis of the film in your own words for class tomorrow,” Korosensei said, waving at the pair.  
“Wow,” Nagisa said, turning around shocked. “You’re giving us homework.”  
“Small price to pay for a free trip to Hawaii.”

On the way back Nagisa sighed.  
“What’s up? Something on your mind?” Karma asked.  
“It’s just been an interesting day, is all. We got flown all the way to Hawaii at Mach 20 and given a lecture on natural science over the Pacific Ocean.”  
“Aaah, we lead a weird life,” Karma said offhandedly.  
“When you think about it, we saw the world through Korosensei’s eyes today,” Nagisa commented. “The more I get to know the guy, the more I feel like his everyday life is something we can’t even comprehend.”  
“Yeah.”  
“Also, are you going to see the movie again with Cathy?”  
“Yeah, she won’t know that I’ve seen it and then I can concentrate on another beautiful picture,” Karma said with a smile.  
“You serious?” Nagisa asked dumbstruck.  
“What?” Karma asked looking at Nagisa confused.  
“Did you just call Cathy a beautiful picture?”  
“Well, yeah. She is. She is a beautiful demoness who can instil fear into anyone with just a glare or a few words,” Karma said with a big grin.  
“Ok then,” Nagisa said, not sure whether this was meant as a compliment or not.  
“Then I can also play a game that I just came up with: guess the reaction,” Karma said with a plotting smile.  
“What’s that?” he asked confused.  
“I know her good enough by now to know what kind of reaction she would have to which scenes. I’ll predict them before and give myself points on how many I have correct.”  
“You know that’s really creepy right?” Nagisa asked in a disapproving voice.  
“Nah. It just shows how good friends we are.”  
“By being able to predict your best friend’s reactions to certain scenes?”  
“Yeah. When it comes down to TV shows she gets all emotional so I’ve learned that the best way to help her with it is by prediction, then I can also help her through it.”  
“Good luck with that.”


	8. At the movies

So the day finally arrived when the new Sonic Ninja movie came out in Japan. Cathy was heading out of the main school building when she noticed someone standing at the gates.  
“Hi, Karma,” she said in a cheery voice.  
“Hi, Cathy. I’ve brought you something,” Karma said, smiling at his friend.  
“You did? Is it edible?” Cathy asked curiously.  
Karma laughed at the question. “Technically. But would advise against it,” he said, taking something out of his pocket.  
“Two tickets for the new Sonic Ninja?” Cathy said in wonder, her eyes turning into saucers. “Karma, how’d you get these so early?”  
“I have my ways,” Karma said mysteriously. In reality Karma had forced the sales person to give him two early tickets for the movie, which he of course paid for afterwards.  
“Sure,” Cathy said, reaching up to pat Karma’s red hair. “Shall we get going then?”  
“Yeah. You gonna tell Alex?”  
“Oops, yeah. Should do that,” Cathy said embarrassed, taking out her phone. “I guess the excitement went to my head.”  
“Like your head isn’t full enough with other crap,” Karma said, patting her on her head before Alex picked up.  
“Alex speaking,” Alex said, picking up the phone.  
“Hi, Alex. It’s Cathy. Just wanted to say that I’m going to see the new Sonic Ninja movie with Karma now.”  
“So you’re going to the movies alone with Karma?” Alex asked in a playful way.  
“Seriously? Still? Give it a rest, Alex. It’s not going to happen.” Cathy sighed.  
“Well, definitely not with that attitude,” Alex said in a dejected tone.  
“Whatever. Bye,” Cathy said, hanging up.  
“Something wrong?” Karma asked, looking down at his less than pleased friend.  
“Nothing really. Alex’s just being a child as usual.”  
“So the guardian is actually the child that needs to be looked after. Interesting plot,” Karma said thoughtfully.  
Cathy laughed. “Yeah, like that would work out. I’d rather not have some movie or book based on my real life.”  
“Why not? Books and movies are about great people after all.”  
“I’m sure you’re one of the only people who think that I’m great,” Cathy said, looking down.  
“Doesn’t mean that you aren’t. You got the nickname demoness for a reason,” Karma said, smiling down at his friend.  
“Well, yeah...but...,” Cathy started, trying to find a counter argument.  
“Don’t try, Cathy. You know you’re going to lose this discussion either way.”  
“Really?” Cathy asked, looking up in a defiant way. “That is a true rarity where the woman loses.”  
“Considering you’re a rarity, I can live with that,” Karma said, getting right up in her face.  
“Touché.”

And so the pair made it to the cinema.  
“Snacks first?” Cathy asked once they had gone through the ticket control.  
“Yeah, sure,” Karma said, getting out his wallet.  
“No,” Cathy said, putting her hands on Karma’s arm to stop him from getting out his money. “I’ll pay for the snacks. I can’t have you pay for everything, now can I?”  
“But I have enough money,” Karma said.  
“Doesn’t matter. There is only one special occasion when the guy can pay for everything and considering this is no such occasion, it’s up to me to pay for at least something.”  
He frowned and realised what she was talking about. He shook his head with a slight smile. _That’s gonna be one lucky bastard._ “If you insist.”  
“Thanks,” Cathy said, flashing her friend a smile and going on to get her own snacks. “Hey, Karma. You also want something?” she asked as she was getting her money ready.  
“Yeah,” he said and grabbed a pack of popcorn.  
She smiled up at him. "Great choice." He grinned. "Considering I'm known to make great choices in pretty much everything, 'course it is." She shook her head and chuckled. "'Course."  
The man at the till said, “Next please.”  
So the pair went over to the till and paid for the snacks.  
Then it was time for the movie to begin and as Karma had said before, he played his newly invented game of predict the reaction. When it was revealed that the villain was really the heroine’s brother the look of disappointment of Cathy’s face made Karma laugh so hard that she had to help him outside.  
“Mind telling me what’s so funny, you idiot?” Cathy asked in a disapproving voice.  
“I’ve never seen you look like that before,” Karma said. _I knew she’d be disappointed as well, but not that she’d look so cute. I also managed to predict all of her reaction. I really know her well,_ Karma thought, smiling down at his friend with an affectionate look in his eyes.  
“Fine. It’s just such a cliché to make the villain a family member and I thought Sonic Ninja was better than that.”  
“’Pears it ain’t,” Karma said, having regained his composure.  
“But still. I guess the concept is all right. Just the way that some movies handle it. Like it’s so difficult to defeat the villain because they’re a family member.”  
“And the cold-hearted demoness appears.”  
“Shut up, you,” Cathy said smiling at her friend. “You’re also pretty cold-hearted. I’m sure you’d happily beat up whoever.”  
“Probably. Even though if that whoever were you, we’d have a problem.”  
“Now that’s a more interesting concept. Two best friends who are already morally grey become enemies for whichever reason. What will the good guy best friend do? Will he take her down or let her go free?”  
“Or join her.”  
“Join her?” Cathy said with an amused look on her face. “You’d rather join me than the other two options?”  
“Yeah. That’s how much you mean to me. I’d rather join the villainous side to be by your side than have to fight against you. Also the villainous side does sound more interesting.”  
“Karma...,” Cathy said, turning her head around so her friend couldn’t see her cheeks becoming red. “You idiot,” she said under her breath with a small smile.

Later that day Karma got a call from Nagisa.  
“How did it go?” Nagisa asked.  
“Great as expected. Managed to get everything right as well,” he said with a broad smile.  
Nagisa sighed lightly so that Karma couldn’t hear him. “That’s good.” He was silent for a bit and then said, “Could it be that you're falling for her?”  
The line went silent. On the other side Karma was staring at his wall with his mouth slightly agape. A small blush had formed on his cheeks. He shook his head. “I can't be blamed, can I,” he said so Nagisa could barely hear him. “She’s amazing,” he said with a smile. He chuckled. “But you already knew that.”  
“Yeah. Um … good luck,” Nagisa said, unsure of what to say now.  
“Oh believe me, I’m not gonna need luck.” If he had an actual demonic tale, it would be wagging now. “Just time.”


	9. Baseball tournament

It was the time of the year for a friendly class versus class baseball tournament. Unfortunately since that the number of classes was uneven; Class 3-E would have to play an exhibition match against the school’s official baseball team.  
At the moment Class 3-E were discussing the tournament.  
“We should ask Sugino for some pointers. He’s the baseball guy. What do you say man?” Maehara said turning to face Sugino.  
“Not to be negative,” Sugino said, looking down. “But we’re screwed. Like royally. The Kunugigaoka team has Shindō as their captain. The dude can throw a fastball like nobody’s business. High schools are already scouting him. It’s not even fair. I’m not gonna lie though; I’d give anything to beat him. Not just put up a good fight. I want to beat the arrogant SOB at his own game. Baseball is my first love, my life. It took getting kicked of the team to understand that. The odds aren’t in our favour, but...,” Sugino said, looking up.  
“Swing, badabada. Swing, badabada,” Korosensei said enthusiastically, looking the part of a real baseball fan.  
“Right. I forgot that you don’t need much persuading when it comes down to anything baseball,” Sugino said in a deadpan voice.  
Korosensei chuckled. “I’ve been wanting to be the feisty, no-nonsense coach in the sport links in like forever. Don’t worry. I won’t push you kids around, but I brought a table to flip,” Korosensei said, holding up a small table with sushi on it.  
“You put a lot of thought into this.”  
“I’ve watched all of you grow more focused on which direction you’d like to head in lately and it’s been marvellous. Whatever the odds, the name of the game is always kill! Win! And to reward that fighting spirit Coach Koro will teach you a strategy guaranteed to secure our victory!” Korosensei said with enthusiasm.

Then the day of the tournament finally arrived. The commentator announced that the winner of the baseball tournament was A Class. And so it was time for the exhibition match to begin.  
“All right. Time for the exhibition game. E Class versus the Kunugigaoka baseball team,” the commentator said.  
Unfortunately for Korosensei he wasn’t allowed to draw attention to himself so he was currently using his forest perspective to look like a baseball on the pitch. Even though he couldn’t actually talk to his class, he would be able signal them with the colour of his face.  
And so the match began. “Ok, folks, let’s see what the first pitch has in store,” the commentator said.  
The first ball was thrown and the game started with a strike. Then the ball was thrown again and Kimura from Class 3-E was able to hit the ball just right and he managed to run a homerun. The next batter was Nagisa and he also managed to run a homerun. The reason why the members of Class 3-E were so good was because before the match Korosensei had trained them mercilessly with his own fastball at 300 km/h. Then he changed the training to throwing it just like Shindō. And so the homeruns continued, which resulted in Class 3-E getting 3 points.  
While the teams were having a discussion the board chairman – Gakuhō Asano – neared the official baseball team and had a little talk with them.  
“Ah, ok. This explains it folks,” the commentator said. “According to a note I’ve just been handed Coach Terai has been ill since before the game started. Apparently the team is so concerned about his health; our hearts haven’t been in the game. Not one to languish in the bleachers, our illustrious principal has stepped up to take the reins.”  
The crowd cheered.  
“How interesting,” Cathy, who was also in the crowd, observed. “Class 3-E is winning so our principal comes and takes over.”  
“It is possible that what the note said was true,” Anjerika said.  
“Yeah. But how likely is that?” Cathy said, taking her eyes away from the waiting area of Class 3-E for just a second to look at her friend.  
“You don’t trust him,” Anjerika commented with an amused look on her face.  
“’Course I don’t. I have no reason to trust anyone of this building. Apart from the two of you of course.”  
“Nice to know that you have so much faith in us, Cathy,” Rukasu commented from her other side, also taking his eyes off the playing field for a while to look at his friend.  
“It’s what I do,” Cathy said, shrugging her shoulders.  
Once the game interruption was done, it was time to begin again. But to everyone’s surprise the official baseball team had all converged on the end field, which was highly unusual. Technically the umpire could call on it, but since he was on their side, he didn’t.  
Shindō threw the ball and because of the pressure of everyone so close to him, Maehara couldn’t hit the ball properly and neither could his other classmates. So it turned into 3 outs. And so it was time for the teams to switch positions on the field. Sugino was now the pitcher and he managed to hit a strike on his first go.  
While the game was going on Korosensei appeared near Karma’s feet and whispered, “Pssst, Karma.”  
“Not the best idea to be right under my feet, coach. Unless the object is to be stepped on,” Karma said.  
Korosensei chuckled. “You’re the first up to bat next game, right? How about we shake things up a bit, eh?” Korosensei said in a plotting voice.  
“Batter number 8. Left fielder Akabane,” was announced.  
“It’s his turn,” Cathy said, slapping her friends excitedly.  
_Why do we have to suffer like this for her liking a guy?_ Anjerika wondered with a small smile.  
“Move it kid,” someone shouted to Karma, who was just standing still.  
“Yeah, yeah. Never pegged you as the type to play dirty, sir,” Karma said, turning to Principal Asano. “If the rules haven’t changed, this little gambit ain’t legal. They’re boguarding the end field. The umpire should’ve called on it by now. Oh, come on. Anyone else smell a rat or is it just me? Oh, never mind. You guys are morons,” Karma said, turning to the audience. “Baseball is like a foreign language to ya.”  
This comment made most of the crowd angry and they started shouting at Karma. Cathy however was laughing hysterically. “Thank you for giving me this idiot,” she said, looking up at the sky.  
This laughing and comment got the attention of some of the girls from Class 3-E who looked over to her and could see that she was in indeed laughing about what Karma had said.  
“Looks like someone fancies our classmate,” Nakamura said.  
“Are you sure?” Kayano asked.  
“Yep. I know girls and I can tell you that for sure. ’Course there’s no way of knowing whether she’s realised it yet or not. Could have a little talk with her,” she said with a plotting smile.  
“Don’t. I’m sure that she won’t like talking about something so personal to someone she’s just met.”  
“Party pooper,” Nakamura said with a dejected sigh.  
While the conversations were going on Class 3-E had 3 out and therefore no points. Then it was the baseball team’s turn to play and they managed to score 2 points. In the next game Class 3-E were also unable to score any points, so now it was time to play the final part of the game. The first part of the game they managed to throw some batters out and now it was up to the baseball team’s best player – Shindō – to set things right for them.  
Korosensei moved back to Karma’s feet and said, “Karma, I think it’s time to put your earlier trash talk into good use.”  
“Mmmh, I get it now,” Karma said with a smile and walked off. He went over to his team and said, “Yo, new marching orders from coach.”  
“And so the game resumes, except...again with the tight defence positions,” the commentator said, commenting on how close Karma and Isogai were standing to the batter.  
“Chocking up the end field isn’t helping the batter’s concentration, but what you gonna do? Now if the ump had called you on earlier, there’d be a precedent of us to back off. Huh,” Karma said with a smile. “You’re cool with this, right chief?” he asked, looking towards Principal Asano.  
“He’s the king of trash talking,” Cathy said, trying to cover her ever growing smile with her hands.  
_Well played,_ Principal Asano thought. _But still just a desperate punt to discipline, boy._ “Proceed as you will. A true athlete does not falter for such trickery,” he said.  
“Wooow. Duly noted. We’ll hold you to that, sir,” Karma said as he went closer to the batter with his classmate. Now they were standing just about a metre from the batter. “Hey, Mister Chosen One, don’t worry about us. You might hit us with your swing, but we’ll be fine,” Karma said to Shindō.  
“Fine. An obvious attempt at a bluff,” Principal Asano said confidently. “Put everything you’ve got into the swing. Crack a skull if need be. Penalty will go to E Class for obstructing the batter.”  
“I’ll crack his skull if need be,” Cathy said under her breath, hoping that this plan wouldn’t injure her friend.  
_Think you’re intimidating me? Well let’s see which one of us pisses themselves when I brain you psychotic little freaks!_ Shindō thought nervously.  
Then Sugino threw the ball, Shindō swung with full power, making Karma and his classmate dodge the bat just in time, and yet it turned into a strike.  
“Give us a break. Holding back ain’t going to cut it now,” Karma taunted. “On the next throw, swing like you’re going to kill us,” he said menacingly.  
Because of all of the pressure around him Shindō just swung his bat randomly and wasn’t able to hit the ball properly. Karma jumped in the air and caught it and threw it to Nagisa, who subsequently threw it to his classmates till the ball was out.  
“The game is over,” the commentator said shocked. “This is insane. The winner is...I never thought I’d say this, but the winner is E Class.”  
“Cathy, you okay?” Anjerika asked, turning to her friend who was still standing in the same spot while the others were going.  
“Yeah, fine. Just need my heart to calm down a bit,” Cathy said with a grin, holding her hand to her chest.  
“Your heart? He excite you?”Anjerika teased.  
“Nothing like that!” Cathy said embarrassed. “It was just a fun match to see and I just liked the way he taunted the others, that’s all.”  
“Sure. Come on. Let’s go. You might have a chance to congratulate him on his victory,” Anjerika said, looping her arm around Cathy’s.  
“I don’t know... I mean other people might be as well.”  
“Doesn’t matter. You’re his best friend. I’m sure it will mean more from you than anyone else.”  
“Fine,” Cathy sighed.  
And so they went over to congratulate Karma on his victory.  
“Hey, Karma,” Anjerika waved.  
“Anjerika,” Karma said, going over to the pair. “And Cathy,” he said, looking over to her.  
“Well, I’ll leave you two alone then,” Anjerika said, letting go of Cathy and heading off.  
“What? Anjerika,” Cathy said desperately.  
“Something wrong?” Karma asked.  
“No, nothing like that,” Cathy said, turning to face her friend. “I just wanted to congratulate you on your victory.”  
“Thanks,” Karma said smiling broadly.  
“...and your taunting techniques.”  
Karma chuckled. “Yeah, they were quite something, huh. I could actually hear you laughing all the way from the stands.”  
“You could?” Cathy asked shocked, looking straight at her friend as embarrassment crept up on her.  
“Just a little. I heard giggling and presumed it was you,” Karma said, smiling down at his friend.  
Cathy blushed for a second. “Yeah, well...it was funny, so...”  
“Cute that you’re trying to find a way out,” Karma teased.  
“I’m not cute,” Cathy said defiantly.  
“Sure you’re not,” Karma said with a smile, rubbing his friend on the head.  
Cathy pouted at that comment. “I am a demoness.”  
Karma laughed. “Yeah, that’s definitely going to prove me wrong. And there is such a thing as cute demonesses.”  
“Why do you have to be such an idiot?”  
“I could be asking you the very same question,” he said in her ear. Then he turned around and said, “Have to go. See ya later,” he said waving. _How did I get to be so lucky?_ he thought with a small smile.  
Cathy on the other hand just collapsed on her knees and started blushing furiously.  
“See it went well,” Anjerika commented.  
Cathy glared at her. “You call this going well? Why the hell do I always get so embarrassed around him? He’s just an idiot,” she said angrily.  
“Why don’t you stop seeing him as an idiot and consider him as something else,” Anjerika said, crouching down to face Cathy.  
“Yeah, like that will ever turn out all right,” Cathy scoffed. “I should also be heading home,” she said and stood up and left.


	10. “Yes, ma’am”

It was finally summer holiday and Korosensei had come up with the idea of having all of his students over for the summer festival. Unfortunately most of the class had other plans but Korosensei had managed to convince Nagisa, Karma and a few others to come along. Since it was a festival Karma decided to call Cathy up and see whether she wanted to come along.  
“Hi, Karma,” Cathy said happily as she picked up the phone. “What’s up?”  
“Nothing much. I’m going to the summer festival later and was wondering whether you’d like to tag along,” Karma said, getting straight to the point.  
“The summer festival, huh? Um, don’t girls usually wear really nice traditional clothes to things like that? And aren’t you supposed to be studying?”  
Karma chuckled. “Which means that I deserve a break. And you don’t have to worry about clothing. Just wear whatever. I doubt anyone will care.”  
“You sure?” Cathy asked dubiously.  
“I’m sure. I’ll even swear it if you want.”  
“No swearing anything like that with me, you demon. Do you want to meet there?”  
“Not even to the gods? You know how to get there?”  
“Quiet you. Well...I mean...I’ll find a way. I can probably take a taxi or something.” She was silent for a bit, thinking of something but honestly too embarrassed to say it, she started shyly, “Or um…”  
He said with a smile, “Could take you. Love to. I’ll be there in a sec.” His voice became more playful. “That is, if you want me to.”  
“Yeah,” Cathy said, seriously trying to hide her pleasure but knowing all too well she was failing. “Be careful on your way here, Karma,” she said teasingly.  
“Don’t worry. Careful and I are very good friends,” Karma said and hung up.  
Then Cathy went to her wardrobe and grabbed a nice summery dress.  
“Wow, who you looking all great for?” Alex commented with a smile.  
“No one. I’m just going to the summer festival and thought it would be appropriate to wear a nice dress to it.”  
“Alone?” Alex asked doubtfully.  
“No with Karma. He just invited me to come along.”  
“Like a...?” Alex asked excitedly.  
“Stop saying that. Why is everyone so convinced that there’s something going on between the two of us? He’s just my stupid idiot best friend, that’s all,” Cathy said irritated.  
“Sure,” Alex said, unconvinced.  
Then there was a knock on the door.  
“It appears your escort has arrived.”  
“Don’t call him that,” Cathy said, going towards the door to open it. “Hi, Karma,” she said, looking at her friend.  
“Hi,” Karma said, admiring his friend with a smile. “You look great.”  
“Thanks. I just thought it would be appropriate to go to a festival with some nice clothes on,” Cathy said, trying to dismiss the compliment that made her heart do a double take.  
“True. Shall we go then?” Karma said, stepping out of the way to let Cathy go through the door.  
“Sure. Bye, Alex,” Cathy said, looking at her guardian.  
“Bye. You two kids have fun,” she said, smiling happily.

When they arrived at the festival it could be seen that it was really busy and that more people of Class 3-E came than Korosensei initially feared.  
One of the first stalls they checked out was a lottery stall. “Hey, Mister,” Karma said after a while with a notebook in his hands, “so far I’ve only scored as high as 5th place on any of your games. Seeing as that drives down the probability of winning 4th place or above,” he said, noting down some equations. “Hang on. Let me just give you a concrete figure. Hey, how about that. 0.05,” he said, shoving the notebook into the stall man’s face. “I’ve been wondering whether the prices are worth what I’ve spent. I mean if you don’t trust my math, you can always ask a cop.”  
“All right. I get it. You can have your money back,” the man said nervously. “Just keep quiet.”  
“Oh, I don’t think so. I didn’t spend my money just to get a refund. I want that game console.”  
And so Karma got the game console.  
“Wow, it’s truly something what a little maths can get you,” Cathy admired.  
“Yeah well,” Karma said offhandedly.  
“With a brain like yours you could easily aim for the top spot in the exams and reach it.”  
“You think?” Karma said, looking at Cathy. “Guess I could try. On the condition that you do as well.”  
“What?” Cathy asked surprised. “You know there’s no way in hell that I could reach the top right?”  
“Maybe. But if you try, then at least you will get a good spot.”  
“Fine, I’ll try,” Cathy said, giving in after a while. “So, can I try it out with you sometime?” she asked, looking at the bag with the new console and wanting to change the subject.  
“You want me to crush you on this as well?”  
“I’ll remind you that that we’re almost even on the win-loss part on your previous games. And a decent amount of your wins are ’cause of your underhanded tricks.” She gave him a combination of an irritated and knowing smile.  
He stroked her head slightly. “Maybe because I let you win sometimes.”  
“Like you’ve got the heart for that.” Her voice turned slightly more serious as she said, “Can we now finally get some food?”  
_She really has no idea, has she?_ “Sure. Can’t stay away from your love for too long,” Karma with a smile said as he followed his friend towards the food stalls.  
While the pair was talking, Okajima was taking pictures of all the pretty women that he saw at the festival. Then he turned around and saw them and this time his pervert brain went haywire at seeing her in a dress like that. “Ooh, I’ve got to take a picture of her,” he said with a gleeful smile.  
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” Nagisa said, putting his hand on the camera.  
“Why?” Okajima asked.  
“Because if you do, it will probably be the last time you see your camera. Karma’s really protective over her,” Nagisa explained. “You should’ve noticed that when we were on the train together.”  
“Okay,” Okajima said dejected, pointing his camera in another direction.

Once they had gotten their food and finished it, Karma said in a soft voice, “Hey, Cathy.”  
She looked at him confused; he hardly ever used that voice. “What is it, Karma?”  
“I brought you something when I was on holiday with my class.” He took out a small jewellery box.  
She looked at him surprised. Most of her features were frozen, except for her mouth that was starting to smile broadly.  
He chuckled. “What? Is it that difficult to believe that I’d buy something for you?”  
She shook her head; his teasing voice snapping her out of her surprise. “No. It’s just really sweet. I dunno. Thank you, Karma.” Her smile turned soft.  
He gave her the box while thinking, _Dammit, she’s cute._  
She opened the box and saw a red necklace, same colour as his hair. “Karma?” she asked in a small voice.  
“Well you do talk about how much you love the colour red since it’s like blood,” he said in a playful voice.  
She shoved him as he stuck his tongue out. “Dammit, Karma, you are such an idiot.”  
He chuckled. “Yeah. So do you want me to put it on you or will you just stay here being cute?”  
She gave him the necklace. “Just put it on me.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
She sighed, wondering how she had gotten herself into this weird friendship.  
He carefully picked up her hair and handed it over to her. He considered tickling the back of her neck, but thought better of it. Even though she was physically weaker than him, she would probably kick his ass in her own way. So he did what he had to do and put her hair back in place. It took longer than necessary – he was subconsciously playing with her hair.  
Cathy on the other hand was thinking, _It’s fine. It’s fine. It’s fine._ She hoped that that kind of thought would stop any embarrassment. “Karma.”  
This snapped him back to reality, though he had no idea for how long he had been out of it. “Yeah?”  
“We should check out the other places, right?”  
“Sounds good.” He inspected the necklace around her neck. “It looks good on you.”  
She held onto it and said shyly, “Thank you.”  
He screamed internally as to how cute she was being. “Nothing,” he said, trying to hide his other emotions. “Let’s just get going.”

Later that evening there was a firework display so Karma and Cathy found a nice bench to sit on.  
“They’re actually pretty awesome,” Cathy said, looking up at the sky. “Unbelievable that colourful explosions could be so pretty.”  
“Yeah,” Karma said, looking at his friend with a smile. “Guess you could say it’s true art.”  
Cathy, not prepared for the sudden fandom reference, squealed and looked down. “Don’t do that, Karma.”  
“Why? You have such a great reaction to it,” Karma said, smiling down at his friend.  
“Because it’s embarrassing,” Cathy said, sitting up and staring straight in his eyes.  
“Embarrassing, huh?” Karma said, keeping eye contact. But while his friend was intensely staring at him, his eyes wondered to a different part of her face. _I could do it. I could kiss her right now and make her mine,_ he thought wistfully. Then he realised what he was actually considering, turned crimson red and ran away. “Sorry, need the crapper,” he said, going away. _What am I thinking? There’s no way that would’ve been a good idea,_ he thought furiously.  
“Karma...,” Cathy called, wondering whether she’d done something wrong and completely oblivious to what her best friend had been thinking seconds earlier.  
Nagisa had seen what had happened and went to check on Karma.  
“Hey, Karma,” Nagisa called.  
“Nagisa,” Karma said, turning around, still red in the face. “What are you doing here?”  
“I saw what happened and wanted to check up on you.”  
“You saw...?” Karma asked nervously. “Made a big fool of myself, didn’t I?” he said with an irritated smile.  
“I don’t get why you just won’t tell her. It’s highly likely that she feels the same.”  
“Doesn’t matter. For as long as I have to lie to her, nothing’s happening,” Karma said determined.  
“Lie? About Korosensei?”  
“Yeah, him. And I can’t tell her because she’d be all fascinated by a powerful being and it’d put her in danger. So the safest way for her is if we just remain friends. And in the off chance that we do start dating now, the lie about the octopus will be watching over us like a hawk and I just can’t have that.”  
“That’s some mean logic,” Nagisa admitted. _He finally realises his feelings at this happens,_ Nagisa thought. “What about after graduation?”  
“Huh?”  
“You can ask her out after graduation, after we’ve killed Korosensei.”  
“I could...,” Karma said unsurely, looking at the ground.  
“Just do it, Karma. I’m sure she’ll say yes,” Nagisa said confidently.  
“Sure that’s gonna happen. Guess I could try anyway, maybe she’s even crazier than I first thought and she does want to go out with me.”  
Nagisa sighed. “Fine. Let’s go,” he said, leading the way back to the festival.  
Once Karma was back at the bench that he’d chosen to sit on with Cathy, she said, “Karma, thank the gods. What happened to you?”  
“Nothing really,” he said offhandedly.  
“Nothing? Really?” Cathy said, raising her eyebrow. “So running off earlier was an entirely normal thing?”  
“Yeah. Just ate some bad food,” Karma said, patting his stomach.  
“You ate the exact same things as me, you liar,” Cathy said angrily.  
This outburst got a shocked look from Karma. _What was I thinking? I’ll probably never be able to make her mine,_ he thought sadly. “I know. I’m sorry. I think it’s best if you head home now,” he said.  
“What? But...,” Cathy said, pointing at the sky.  
“You can admire the art some other time,” Karma said with a smile.  
“Fine. I guess I don’t have much of a choice considering you’re my escort and everything,” Cathy said, lowering herself off the bench.  
“None in the slightest.”  
“Lead the way,” Cathy said, pointing forward.  
So the pair walked together back to Cathy’s place, Karma taking in every detail as they walked to make sure that he wouldn’t forget anything.  
“You mad at me?” Karma asked to break the silence.  
“Kinda. I’d just like to know what had you running off so fast. I never thought that a staring contest would scare you so much,” Cathy said, looking up at her friend.  
“I can’t say,” Karma said, looking down at the ground embarrassed.  
“You can’t say? And earlier you said that it was something you ate. Guess we’re moving forward,” Cathy concluded. “Why not? In the whole world of things that you can’t tell me, I’m not sure this should be a part of it.”  
“It is. It’s too weird and could destroy our friendship.”  
“Destroy our friendship?” Cathy asked with indignation. “Karma Akabane, what kind of friend do you think I am? That I would leave you because of something you thought?”  
Karma smiled. “You’re the best friend that I could ever wish for, Cathy. But for now I can’t tell you.”  
Cathy sighed. “Guess that’s the best I’m gonna get today. It appears we’ve arrived,” she said, looking up at the apartment block.  
“You want me to come on up?” Karma asked, looking at the building.  
“No, thank you. I think I can handle a few flights of stairs on my own,” Cathy said, patting Karma on the shoulder. “Goodnight, Karma.”  
“’Night, Cathy,” he said with a smile, watching his friend disappear into the building.

The next day Karma got a surprise visit from Korosensei who was excitedly holding a notebook in his hand to write down anything that had happened between Karma and Cathy.  
“Not gonna tell you anything, teach. Nothing happened,” Karma said, not looking up from the game he was playing.  
“Aw,” Korosensei said disappointed.  
“Also,” he said, looking up into Korosensei’s eyes, “if you come anywhere near her, dare to hurt her in any way, I will make your life a living hell worse than you could ever imagine and your death will be unbearable.”  
“Why?” Korosensei asked nervously.  
“Have you ever had someone that you wanted to protect more than anything else in the world? Do anything for to make her happy? That’s what she is to me. So don’t come anywhere near her,” Karma said calmly.  
Korosensei gulped. “Ok,” he said and went away.

Later that day Korosensei ran into Nagisa.  
“Korosensei?” Nagisa asked shocked, not expecting to see his teacher out on the streets at this time. “What are you doing here?”  
“Just walking around, thinking,” Korosensei responded nervously.  
“Thinking about what?” Nagisa asked confused.  
“I went by Karma’s earlier today and he threatened me in a very different way.”  
“Don’t say you brought her up,” Nagisa asked in a disapproving manner.  
“I couldn’t help it,” Korosensei asked, getting out his notebook. “I need more source material for my stories and they seemed like the perfect pair.”  
“Maybe they are, but it’s not going to happen and it will be best if you leave them alone.”  
“Huh?”  
“I can’t really explain it. Let’s just say that they mean a lot to each other,” Nagisa said after a pause.  
“Got it,” Korosensei said dutifully and left Nagisa.


	11. Pole-toppling

Later that school year there was a pole-toppling festival being held. The deal had been that if Class 3-E could beat Class 3-A, Class 3-A’s representative Gakushu Asano – the principal’s son –, wouldn’t tell the principal about the fact that the class president – Isogai – had a part time job at a café to come by for the month – which wasn’t allowed at the school.  
While other parts of the festival were being played out Korosensei said to Isogai, who was going through the rule book, “Something wrong?”  
“Korosensei, the fact of the matter is Asano is very talented. I’m no match for him,” Isogai said, closing the rule book.  
Korosensei thought for a second. “Look at it this way. However talented someone is, however gifted, well-trained, the world is a mighty big place. There is always someone better,” he said.  
“What do I do? I can’t win. Guys are gonna get crushed because of me.”  
“Talent or not,” Korosensei said, getting ready to take a picture of his student, “one person alone can only accomplish so much.”  
Then Isogai’s classmates came and stood beside him and Korosensei took a picture.  
“You got Asano beat in one very important aspect already, the ability to inspire confidence in your comrades. Should you find yourself between a rock and a hard place, there will be quite a few people ready to help you,” Korosensei said, tying the headband of the leader around Isogai’s head. “You have the gift of personal magnetism. And between you and me I’d much rather have a fellow like you as a student than Asano. “  
Isogai sighed and then said, “All right. Guys like always we’re going into this guns blazing!”  
“Yeah!” the boys shouted enthusiastically.  
“Next up we have an exhibition match,” the commentator said. “E Class must be feeling lucky folks ’cause they challenged A Class to a battle. Something tells me Kunugigaoka’s elite will make them live to regret it.”  
Amongst the members of A Class there were also really tall, muscular guys standing beside them facing E Class.  
“In the spirit of cultural diversity this exhibition match will feature our foreign exchange students. All of them,” the commentator explained.  
“Asano’s scared. He brought in outsiders to cover his butt. There must be a lot riding on it for him,” Maehara said with a balled fist.  
“And yet again our building shows just how fair they are,” Cathy commented from the stands.  
Anjerika laughed. “You could become a professional commenter some day.”  
“No can do. I’m not really all that interested in sports and stuff.”  
“And yet you’re here,” Anjerika said, poking her friend.  
“Of course. There’s no way I’m missing another class versus class sport battle,” Cathy said with a grin.  
“Because of Karma,” Anjerika sang.  
“Partially,” Cathy admitted.  
_Not hiding it, huh? She’s moving up in the world,_ Anjerika thought with a smile.  
And so the match began. Each class went to stand near their designated pole and made a circle of people to protect it. The exchange students stood at the front for offence while the people of A Class stood around the pole with Asano on top for defence. And much to everyone’s surprise E Class were all on the defence.  
“Apparently E Class’s strategy is to go all out on defence,” the commentator said. “Are they cow by the gap in skill? Whatever they’re thinking, let the games begin!”  
“Offensive line, go plan F,” Asano said to the exchange students.  
“Roger that,” one of the students said, and ran towards E Class with his fellow students.  
Our objective isn’t to bring down the pole, per se. No. We intend to crush you once and for all, Asano thought.  
The offensive line came running towards E Class and out of fright Muramatsu and Yoshida ran towards the attacker.  
“Damn it,” Yoshida said.  
“We’re not going to roll over and take this,” Muramatsu said.  
They made contact with the exchange student and got effortlessly tossed towards the side.  
“Two down,” the commenter said. “And not just down. Blown to the bleachers.”  
“How about instead of trying to hold the line like a bunch of turtles, you step up and fight?” the exchange student asked. “Or don’t you know the meaning of the word?”  
“Hey, partner,” Karma said with a Southern accent.  
“Huh?”  
“Why don’t you stop yammering and follow your own advice?” Karma asked with a smile.  
“Gods, what do I have to do to make this guy mine?” Cathy asked between giggles.  
Anjerika and Rukasu exchanged looks and then Anjerika pulled Cathy into a tight hug.  
“Huh? Anjerika, what’s up with the hug?” Cathy asked confused.  
“Nothing really. I’m just happy, is all,” she said happily, shaking her friend from side to side.  
“Happiness is great, but I can’t really watch the match with you shaking me. Or do you want me to throw up on you?”  
“No, sorry,” Anjerika said, releasing her friend and beaming at her.  
“Ok,” Cathy said, paying attention to the field again.  
“Bring it on man,” the exchange student said and charged with his fellow students.  
“Ok. Now!” Isogai shouted. “Operation tentacles.”  
The first defending line of people jumped up and jumped onto the students. Then Itona jumped onto the pole and made it fall so that it would keep the students down.  
“Unbelievable,” the commentator said shocked. “The E Class is pinning down A Class’s offensive line with the weight of the pole. Playing dirty.”  
“Tough luck, big guy,” Terasaka said. “There’s no rule against us using the pole as a weapon.”  
“Get the hell off of me,” the student strained.  
“Shut up and stay down,” Terasaka ordered.  
_A splendid tactic,_ Asano thought admirably. _But you’ve only got 17 minutes to create an offensive and two of them are down for the count. You’ve just given us more of an advantage._ “Guerrilla team, plan K. Both sides move in,” Asano ordered and the guerrilla team moved forward.  
_There’s a gap dead centre. If we’re going to attack, it has to be now while they’re separated,_ Isogai thought. “All right. Let’s do it! Look alive men. Operation runny nose.”  
“Right!” Isogai’s teammates responded and followed him.  
“I’ve got you now,” Asano said confidently.  
“Oh hoh, classic bait and switch,” the commentator commented on the guerrilla team changing direction to go after the Class E members.  
“They pulled a defensive fake out,” Okajima said as the team surrounded them.  
“We should do something,” Karasuma said from the side. “The Ministry of Defence isn’t going to like it very much if the students get injured.”  
Korosensei snickered. “Not to worry, my good man. I gave Isogai some good tips during social studies,” Korosensei said thinking back to his one on one conversation with Isogai. “On the subject of defeating an enemy twice your size, history provides an excellent example in Hannibal of Cartage,” Korosensei had said.  
“Ah yes. All the scourge of ancient Rome,” Isogai had said, writing the information down in his notebook.  
“He led his troops of road time and again. Popping up where the opposing forces were least prepared. His defence strategy clever, his weapons innovated. The lesson here is that a good tactician thinks unconventionally. Successful schemes are often guided by a touch of the eccentric,” Korosensei had said.  
Back at the match Isogai was prepared to show what he had planned out. He nodded towards his team mates and then the team ran towards the running track and into Class 3-D’s bleachers. Luckily everyone was able to make it out in time before the havoc which was caused by the opposing teams.  
“The E Class team has left the playing field and running amok among the spectators. Total chaos!” the commentator said.  
“Hey, there are no rules about boundaries. Come on. What you waitin’ for? The whole school’s a battlefield,” Karma beckoned in his Southern accent.  
_Most dangerous part of pole toppling is that even with a handful of teammates, you can clamber to the top. Their strongest are..._ Asano thought. “Akabane, Kimura, Isogai, those are the three to watch,” Asano warned. _Yūma Isogai, should E Class lose this friendly little match, I’ll report your infraction and you’ll be out in the cold. Order your team to attack, unless you care to be expelled. Fall alone or drag your friends down with you. The choice is yours. Not ideal, but the stakes of beating the underdogs..._  
“Hear that?” Cathy asked her friends with a smile. “Asano actually said that Karma and his classmates are a threat. He should warn me next time he says something like that, I’d pay to record it.”  
“I think he’s just saying how strong they are,” Rukasu said. _Which they do look._ Rukasu’s features froze. Since when was he one to comment on how guys looked?  
“Yeah, but still...it’s funny hearing it from him.”  
“Isogai, it’s about that time,” Karma said, jumping from chair to chair like he was having the time of his life.  
“Yeah. And so far it’s all going to plan,” Isogai said with a smile.  
Then suddenly Muramatsu and Yoshida came out of nowhere and started sprinting towards the pole. Asano gasped in surprise. Once the pair had made it to the pole they grabbed onto Asano.  
“What?” the commentator said surprised. “Where’d those two come from? Weren’t they out of commission?”  
“We practiced taking punches until we were blue in the face,” Muramatsu said.  
“But the hardest part of it all was acting like we got flung off the field,” Yoshida added.  
_You’re kidding me? These are the goons we pummelled in the beginning?_ Asano thought irritated.  
“Right we’re done running. E Class, go sonic,” Isogai ordered.  
Then his teammates started running towards the A Class pole in a connected line.  
_Of course. The scuffle was only to distract our attention. After those two clowns were knocked to the seats, they regrouped. Why didn’t I see it coming? Now they’re taking advantage of the chaos to rush our main unit. That’s their game!_ Asano thought annoyed.  
Then the whole team jumped up and took hold of Asano.  
“There may not be that many of us, but it only takes one to reach the top of the pole,” Yoshida said with a smile.  
Asano removed his helmet, grabbed onto Yoshida’s arm and threw him downwards. Then he used the pole to move up a bit, so he could kick another member down.  
“We happen to be standing on the same stage, you and I,” Asano said from the top of the pole. “Tell me. Are you so big a fool that you expect me to be kicked off?” Then he started kicking the other members of the team to get them down.  
When Isogai got kicked down he went into a crouching position and Nagisa jumped up on him and managed to get a hold of Asano.  
“What? Wait a minute. The E Class have called in reinforcements,” the commentator said.  
“What the hell? That’s their defensive unit, which means,” an A Class student said, looking towards the other pole, “they only have two guys left at the pole! How are they even holding it down?”  
“A little thing called leverage,” Takebayashi said, adjusting his glasses.  
“Huh?”  
“Oh, yeah. Physics and stuff,” a student from D Class said.  
“How are these people even still in our class?” Cathy said with indignation.  
“I know. It’s a miracle, but we just have to live with it for a little longer,” Anjerika said, crossing her arms.  
“Nice one, man. They’re totally buying that answer,” Terasaka, who was leaning on the pole, said.  
“It’s simply a play for time. The two of us can’t really hold this many people down by ourselves. Lucky for us, these poor souls don’t dare do anything without orders. If the bigger boss still has an ace up his sleeve, and of course in times like these than to take the initiative, right?” Takebayashi said with a grin.  
“Stupid four-eyes,” the exchange student said angrily.  
“Asano! We need orders,” another one said.  
_I can’t give you any,_ Asano thought desperately as he clung onto the pole.  
“Looks like the A Class team is assuming an offensive posture too. If they can hold, E Class will be out of options,” the commentator said.  
“Itona! Now! Do it!” Isogai shouted.  
“Yeah, ok,” Itona said and ran towards the pole. Then he jumped on Isogai’s hands, who threw him into the air, and he managed to topple the pole by kicking it and then holding it down with the help of his classmates.  
“E Class is eh...,” the commentator said, lost for words.  
“E Class, for the win!” Isogai said, happily holding up his arm in victory.

After the victory Cathy went over to congratulate Karma.  
“Hey, Karma,” she called.  
“Cathy,” he said, turning around to see his friend beaming at him. “Here to congratulate me again?”  
“Yes, as a matter of fact I am. Congratulations on your victory against A Class. You deserve it,” Cathy said, smiling up at her friend.  
“Thank you,” Karma said, smiling down at her.  
“And I kinda liked that accent of yours,” she said, looking down and rubbing her head in embarrassment.  
“You do?” Karma said, starting to speak in his Southern accent. “Well, thanks, Cathy. That means a lot. Maybe I could start talking like this from now on.”  
“Don’t be stupid.” Cathy giggled. “You know that would probably ruin your voice, right?”  
“No can do, sweetheart. You like it, so I’m keeping it,” Karma replied with a smile.  
“That’s a terrible reason,” Cathy replied with a smile.  
_I’ll do anything to protect this smile,_ Karma thought. Then he pulled Cathy into a bear hug.  
“Um, Karma,” Cathy peeped. “Why the bear hug all of a sudden?”  
“To prove that I’m willing to protect you at all costs,” Karma said, back in his normal voice.  
“I can take care of myself,” Cathy replied in a muffled voice, feeling her heart trying to escape her chest.  
“’Course you can. Doesn’t mean that that will stop me from protecting you when necessary.”

“See that there, Rukasu?” Anjerika, who was watching the pair from a distant, whispered excitedly. “That’s an OTP if I ever saw one.”  
“You really think so?” Rukasu asked doubtfully. “They just always seem to have loads of fun as friends.”  
“Because they’re both too scared to ask the other one out for some stupid reason or another. But didn’t you hear what Cathy said earlier? She wants him to be hers,” Anjerika whispered, her smile growing bigger.  
“Which she forgot later on. Remember? Sure there’s a chance that he feels the same way, but she’s too scared to think about that because she wants to spare herself the pain of being rejected by her best friend. And he also hasn’t given her any indication he feels that way. Maybe it’s best that you back off before you make things worse, Anjerika.”  
“Worse? What are you talking about? I’m just trying to make her happy. And don’t be stupid about him not feeling the same way. I’ve never seen him look at anyone like that before. He becomes softer when he’s around her.”  
Rukasu sighed. “Fine. Be that way. Just don’t do anything that could ruin their friendship.”  
“Of course not,” Anjerika replied with a grin. “I wouldn’t dare do anything that could endanger my OTP.”


	12. Mountain of food

The time for the school festival was arriving and all classes were rigorously preparing for it, so they could make the most money with their stalls. A Class managed to make a deal with a big restaurant chain and some idols.  
At the moment E Class were discussing a plan for the festival.  
“I really don’t want to lose to those A Class jerkwads, but what are we supposed to do?” Sugino asked sadly.  
“Asano has the right idea,” Korosensei said. “This is all about providing something unique. Give people a bargain and you’ll draw them in. Even on a shoe-string budget.”  
“Sounds nice, but how are we going to do that?” Maehara asked.  
“Come now, children. The answers are all around you. E Class can give customers a one of a kind bargain. On this baby,” Korosensei said, holding up an acorn branch in his tentacles. “. And this,” he said, holding up a platter of fish. “And these,” he said, holding a basket full of different kinds of mushrooms. “Ingredients that have a lot in common with you. You’re all tucked away in the mountains, where your value goes unnoticed.”  
“I get it,” Terasaka said. “We hit our customers where they least expect. Pretty cool idea. An assassination restaurant.”  
“In a manner of speaking, yes. Now brandish these secret blades, like you’re going in for the kill.”

Then the day of the school festival finally came. Yada had to advertise the restaurant at the bottom of the mountain and she managed to convince some upperclassmen to go to the restaurant on the top of the mountain. They said that they would write a bad review online, but once they had a taste they released just how delicious the food really was. Unfortunately it still appeared that A Class was pulling in more customers with their fancier get up and idols.  
Later on some children from a preschool that the students had been forced to fix a while ago came to visit.  
“There you are Nagisa,” Sakura – a girl from the preschool that Nagisa had helped to tutor – said, waving at him. “Look who I brought in toe.”  
“Hey Sakura,” Nagisa said with a smile. “I see you brought Mister Matsukata and the gang.”  
“Awww, that’s sweet Nagisa, you kept in touch,” Kataoka said.  
“Yeah, I help her study sometimes,” Nagisa replied with a smile.  
Sakura went over to Nagisa said and as he put his hands on her shoulders she said, “I had to show up. When your personal tutor asks you to try out their restaurant, you really don’t have much of a choice.”  
“Awww, Nagisa, you got yourself a girlfriend. I didn’t know you swung that way,” Cathy said, appearing from the stairs. This comment was due to the fact that even though Nagisa was a boy, he could be mistaken for a girl at times, and people tended to make fun of that fact.  
Karma chuckled. “Good one. Hadn’t thought of that one yet.”  
“Cathy, don’t say that!” Nagisa shouted irritated.  
“But you look so cute together.” Cathy pouted.  
“Don’t be mean to Nagisa. He’s a really good tutor,” Sakura defended.  
“Don’t worry,” Cathy said, bowing down at rubbing her head. “I’m just kidding.”  
“So how come you’re here?” Nagisa asked.  
“This is a restaurant, Nagisa. What d’you think?”  
“I mean. What about your class’s stall?”  
“Let’s just say I ran away from it. The guys of course wanted a stupid maid café and since no one had a better idea it got put through. I had to wear a frilly maid outfit and everything,” Cathy said with indignation. “And all the guys had to do was wear butler gear.”  
_Maid outfit?_ Karma thought, putting his hand to his face to hide his growing blush at imagining Cathy in such clothes.  
“So you didn’t like the class’s idea.”  
“Well, yeah. That and...” Cathy said, looking unsurely at Karma, “one of our customers tried to get a little too friendly with me.”  
“They what?” Karma asked with a balled fist and a menacing smile, all previous emotions turning into anger and hatred. “This guy is going to pay,” he said.  
“Wait. Karma, no,” Cathy said, jumping in front of her friend before he could commit any kinds of violent acts. “He’s probably already gone by now and we don’t know anything much him. Please just let it go. He just said something inappropriate, is all.”  
“What’d he say?”  
“Um...um...,” Cathy started unsurely, not sure whether she should say the next sentence. “He asked me to be his personal maid.”  
“He did, did he?” Karma asked, his anger growing more and more. “In that case I’ll show him what happens if you think you can disrespect my best friend. I’ll need extra hot sauces for this.”  
“But you have to work here,” Cathy tried.  
“And you had to work over there. I don’t see what the difference is.”  
“Karma,” Cathy said with pleading eyes, “please.”  
“You can’t change my mind like that, Cathy,” Karma said determined, though he was obviously faltering slightly at her pleading eyes.  
“Karma,” Nagisa suddenly said from behind the pair. “Just give this one a rest ok? If there are any other guys who harass Cathy, you can beat them up all you want.”  
“Is that a promise, Nagisa?”  
“Yes.”  
After a pause Karma said, “Ok. Guess you’ll want somewhere to sit,” he said, taking out a menu.  
“Yes. Thank you, Karma,” Cathy said, accepting the menu with a smile.  
“It’s just a menu. And also for the rest of today I want you to stay here and I’ll escort you home tonight.”  
“A true knight in shining armour,” Cathy said with an embarrassed smile.  
“More like a demon in shining armour.” Karma chuckled.  
Cathy chuckled at that correction. “Yeah, that would be pretty accurate.”  
As the pair walked away Sakura asked, “Is that girl his girlfriend?”  
This question surprised all of the students present. “Why would you say that?” Nagisa asked unsurely. _Even a child can tell that he likes her that way,_ Nagisa thought.  
“Because,” Sakura said bossily, “I doubt that anyone else would be so protective over her. I know friends can be like that, but he really acts like it.”  
Nagisa chuckled nervously. “I guess you’re right about that.”  
So Cathy spent the rest of the day on the mountain until closing time and went home with Karma.  
“So I heard there was a maid outfit,” Karma said in a teasing voice as they walked home.  
“Karma, no,” Cathy groaned. “You’re not going to see me wear it.”  
“Why not? I’d be fun, right?”  
“Yeah, for you. But I don’t know...”  
“Huh?”  
“It just seems like an objectifying piece of clothing. Not showing off too much, but still the right amount for people to get ideas.”  
“You’re scared I’ll get ideas?” Karma chuckled.  
“Not you, silly,” Cathy replied with a sideways smile. “I just don’t like the idea of wearing clothes like that.”  
“Fine. If you really don’t want to. Either way, you’d look great in it. Just saying.”  
“Yeah, thanks,” Cathy said embarrassed. _Why’s he keep complimenting me like this? I also want to compliment him, but I can’t make it sound as casual as him and it would be really weird. He’s just so imperfectly perfect that it’s infuriating,_ she wondered irritated.

The next day was the last day of the festival and at the end of the day the results of the revenue were displayed for all students to see. As was expected A Class made first place, and much to everyone’s surprise E Class had made it to third place, which made some students start to respect E Class.


	13. Revelation

The rest of the term was quite eventful, partially because of the end of term exams. Much to everyone’s glee, Karma managed to take the top spot with a perfect score of 500/500 and the other students of the E Class made it to the top 50 of the year. And to Karma’s glee Cathy managed to take the 19th spot, which was the highest for her ever.  
Then later that term, something even more surprising happened: it was revealed that in reality Kayano was E Class’s previous teacher’s – Aguri Yukimura – younger sister and since that she thought that Korosensei was responsible for her death, Kayano intended on killing him with her own tentacles that she had achieved through a serum she had stolen from the facility where Korosensei had been mutated. They had a one-on-one fight with the class watching on in horror. Korosensei said that if someone could distract Kayano for long enough, he could knock her out harmlessly and remove the tentacles. Nagisa managed to distract her in his own way and Kayano was taken down. After the fight, Korosensei revealed what had really happened to him and Kayano’s sister.  
Apparently Korosensei used to be an assassin called The Reaper and two years ago he had been captured by a man called Yanagisawa and he’d been taken to his lab and experimented on with Yanagisawa’s tentacle formula. Korosensei also said that that is where he’d met Aguri. Over a year Korosensei’s body became stronger and his relationship with Aguri – who had to do daily checkups on him – became closer. It was also exposed that the true perpetrator for the moon’s disaster wasn’t Korosensei, but a rat with the same tentacle formula which had been placed on the moon. Korosensei had found out that it was likely that he would also have just one more year to live, so he had decided to unleash his powers and escape the facility. Much to his horror Aguri had tried to stop him and had been fatally injured by one of the traps in the facility. In her last dying moments she had told him to look after the children of Class 3-E.  
Now that the students knew the truth about their teacher, they weren’t so sure anymore about whether they could really kill him and now the class was divided into two sides: the kill team and the save team, with Karma as the leader of the kill team and Nagisa the save. To settle the discourse, Korosensei suggested a friendly battle of paint ball, where the surviving team or the one who manages to capture the flag wins and the other team has to listen to their idea without any bad feelings. In the beginning things seemed to be going reasonably smoothly for the kill team and they were nearing the flag, but suddenly out of nowhere Nagisa jumped out and annihilated most of the remaining members of the team. And so the only two reaming members were Nagisa and Karma. Karma challenged Nagisa to a one on one battle and even though he had the upper hand at the beginning of the battle, Nagisa managed to pull him into a stranglehold, which – even though he could have technically taken Nagisa down with a knife – made Karma admit defeat.

After class Cathy saw Karma arriving from the mountain top all battered and bruised from his fight with Nagisa.  
“Oh gods, Karma. What happened to you?” she asked worriedly.  
“Nothing really. Just a little scuffle,” Karma responded dismissively.  
“That doesn’t seem like nothing,” she said, standing on her toes to have a proper look at her friend’s wounds. “Have your wounds been tended to?”  
“Well, I was planning on once I got home.”  
“Tend to your own wounds. And what about the ones you can’t reach?”  
“Huh?”  
“You’re coming home with me,” Cathy said, grabbing onto Karma’s hand and pulling him along.  
“Wait, Cathy. You don’t have to,” Karma said, softly trying to pull away.  
“And why not?” she said, looking seriously at him. “Because the last time I checked, that’s what friends do. You’ve helped me out a lot in the past, so you bet your sweet ass I’m going to help you when I can.”  
“Well yeah, but...”  
“Not buts, Karma, you’re coming with me and I’m going to tend to your wounds,” Cathy said absolutely.  
“Ok,” Karma said, knowing that there wasn’t much point in arguing with his friend.


	14. Mystery trip

The plan was now to send Karma and Nagisa, who had undergone special training, into space in an unmanned capsule to get research data that could potentially save Korosensei.  
The moment Nagisa had asked Karma to come with him, Karma looked pained. “I promised Cathy I’d go watching the takeoff with her.”  
Nagisa blinked. “Huh?”  
He leant back in his chair with a smile. “She likes stuff like that, not the technology, but what it is. And seeing one going up into space would be great for her.” He looked at Nagisa. He knew how serious his friend was about this. Karma sighed. “Guess I’m gonna hafta call her and tell her it’s a no go anymore.” He stood up and walked outside the class.  
Just like with everything else concerning the best friends, Korosensei was vigorously writing down everything about them.  
Outside the classroom Karma selected his best friend’s phone number and called it up. She picked up soon after with her usual cheerful voice. He smiled.  
“So Karma, please tell me, why are you calling me while you’re still officially having lessons? Are you skipping again?”  
“No. I’m calling you because it has to do with something to do with my lessons.” He sighed. “Apparently I have to go somewhere on the day the rocket launches. I’m sorry. We’ll hang out as soon as I’m back. I promise.”  
“What kind of thing?”  
“I’m...not allowed to tell you.”  
“Ok,” she said in a small, disappointed voice.  
He could imagine look on her face at the moment. “Cathy, I’m sorry. I’ll...I’ll tell them that I can’t go.”  
“Oh, Karma,” she said in a soft voice. “You are a great friend. You know that right? But at the moment, your class needs you for something. It’s alright if you don’t tell me, as long as you promise to be safe.”  
“I promise,” he said in a small voice.  
“Good. ’Cause anyone who dares mess with you ends up in the hospital no matter what.”  
He chuckled. “That’s the truth. Goodbye, Cathy. Thank you for understanding.”  
“Bye, Karma. Have fun on this mystery trip.”  
He hung up and the content smile was still plastered on his face.


	15. Space time

The rocket would be taking off at Cape Shimazu Space Centre, where some class members would have to break into to give Karma and Nagisa an opening to board the rocket. Ritsu hacked into one of the computers in the control room to install a virus that could make her control the direction of the capsule once it started heading earthwards. And with the right amount of camera manipulation, Karma and Nagisa made it into the rocket in time and then the rocket took off with the two boys in their seats.  
“Oh my, it’s so fast,” the pair heard the voice of Korosensei through the rocket husk.  
“I didn’t realise you were tagging along,” Nagisa said surprised.  
“Well, you know me. I’m a worrier. Try not to be overly concerned with getting the research data, agreed? You’re soaring through space! Sit back and relish the experience,” Korosensei said excitedly.  
“Korosensei...” Nagisa started.  
“Huh?”  
“There’s something I’d like to say. You never waste an opportunity to teach us something, even if you have to put yourself in danger. We’re very grateful for that, but you’re life means more to us than what it can teach. It’s what this whole mission is about. Just wanted you to know that.”  
“Thank you. I do. And I appreciate it,” Korosensei said in a soft voice before being pushed off the rocket by its speed.  
Some distance away from the cape, civilians were allowed to see the launch. Cathy had instead gone with Anjerika and was now looking at the sky with a smile full of awe. She wished that Karma had been beside her to see it, but it was important for his future. He had to be responsible when it came down to school.  
Nakamura noticed the smile on the black-haired girl’s face and took out her phone. She quickly sneaked a picture without anyone else noticing.  
Eventually the rocket fell apart and only a capsule was left and it floated towards the space station, where the mechanical arm of the space station took a hold of it and docked it. One of the astronauts went into the capsule to check it out and got surprise attacked by Karma and Nagisa. When the astronaut’s colleagues went to check out what had happened, they saw that Karma was holding a knife – an anti Korosensei knife – against the astronaut’s neck.  
“The com link with Earth has been cut,” Ritsu said cheerfully.  
“Excellent job. Thanks,” Nagisa said and cleared his throat. “So we have a bomb,” he said holding something up with the word bomb written on it. “We want to keep things nice and peaceful. Like back away please, let’s talk this out.”  
“It’s getting a bit cramped in here for my taste boys. I thought we move this inside where there’s more elbow room. Yeah, that’s right, let’s go,” Karma said, pointing his knife towards the door.  
Once everyone was inside the station Nagisa said: “Ok, so. All we’re after is a copy of the American team’s research data. That’s it. You have my word we won’t be making any other demands.”  
“You probably already know this, but our teacher is the monster you’re studying. No telling what he’ll do to the planet if you refuse what we’re asking for. He’s capable of anything.” Karma said with a smile. _Ok, these fellas got calm in a hurry. I guess that’s a career astronaut for ya,_ he thought.  
One of the astronauts started clapping. “Well, first of all let me give you kids a big round of applause for you kids to get this far,” the astronaut said.  
“Uuuh, thank you I guess,” Nagisa said unsurely.  
“But really, you can’t seriously think we’re that easy to take out,” the astronaut said with a smile. “We’re not gonna drop to our knees over a bomb. Think about it. We’re astronauts. We came up here knowing full well that death was just an occupational hazard.” Then the astronaut smirked. “What’d you say you put down the weapons? We’re willing to talk this out like civilised people. But first you kids let our crewmate go.”  
Karma complied and let the man he was holding go.  
“This is nuts. Even if you do steal all the data, how do you plan on getting home?” the former hostage asked. “You gonna ask the guys you just threatened to give ya a lift?”  
“We can manage on our own,” Nagisa replied. “Our classmate calculated the return orbit calculations to the last decimal point.”  
“Yep,” Ritsu agreed.  
“So there’s that and of course our teacher can do whatever fine tuning we need in midair.”  
“That’s incredibly reckless,” another astronaut said  
“Is this fun for you? We all think we’re invincible when we’re young, but damn.”  
“Look, pal. I’m not here because I want to be. I’m here because my friend asked me,” Karma said simply with a smile. “We know we’re not invincible. We’ve actually given it a lot of thought over the past few months. Look at us. We’re a bunch of kids prepared to assassinate our teacher. That puts us in a unique position. We understand how fragile life is, just like you. Am I right?”  
“Well boy,” the first astronaut said. “Guess I’ll take it upon myself to accept your demands. We’ll let them see the files,” he said to his colleagues behind him. “In exchange, you can earn those files by helping us unload our supplies. Let’s put these kids to work so we can get what they need and go,” he said, floating towards the capsule. And so the boys helped the astronauts and had a real life astronaut experience. After the experience they connected the computer to Nagisa’s phone and uploaded all of the files needed.  
“No signs of falsification. Relevant experimental data’s veracity confirmed. I’ll download a copy” Ritsu said.  
Karma disconnected the phone and said: “That should just about do it. Now to get back and run some tests of our own.”  
“Yeah. We wouldn’t want to overstay our welcome,” Nagisa agreed.  
“Hey pops” Karma said, picking up the bomb. “Heads up. Present for ya,” he said, throwing it at one of the astronauts.  
The astronaut caught carefully.  
“It’s filled with sweet bean jelly, so knock yourselves out,” Karma said with a smile.  
“Oh no,” the astronauts said in union.  
“Don’t sweat it. Just tell the brass you aired on the side of caution,” Karma said.  
“We’re very very sorry for causing you any trouble,” Nagisa said, bowing down in apology.  
“At least you got to kill some time, right?” Karma said, playing with his knife.  
And so Nagisa and Karma floated back to their capsule.  
“Come back soon,” one of the astronauts said. “Legally next time though.”  
“I’m an Earth bound boy no offence, guys,” Karma said dismissively. “But rest assured the second I am in power this space exploration program is getting a big time budget increase.”  
“I’ll hold you to that,” the astronaut said as the capsule was released into space where Ritsu calculated the best way back and sent them to Earth.  
“Right on schedule. I guess this must have been a gruelling trip,” Korosensei said from behind the capsule, pushing in the right direction once the capsule was close enough to Earth. Then when the capsule was lower it released three parachutes so that it could land safely.  
“It appears I didn’t have to intercede in the negotiations after all,” Korosensei said through the husk. “I bet those daring cosmonauts were enormously impressed with you.”  
“Probably yeah,” Karma agreed.  
“Hold on tight. I’m gonna give you a little shove,” Korosensei said and started punching the capsule at his Mach 20 speed in the right direction and the capsule landed in a lake near the E Class’s building.  
“What in the name of god did you do?” Karasuma, who had just arrived, asked.  
Korosensei made a scared noise.  
“I can’t even begin to conceive how much damage.”  
“This won’t reflect on you,” Korosensei said nervously. “I coerced the students into going. No one else knew of my plan. You two have plausible deniability. At any rate,” Korosensei said, picking up the phone with all of the new data. “We have a lovely bonus to show for it. Human pilots yield much better data than test dummies. This will push the space program forward by at least a decade. Oh, and did I mention that Ritsu discovered a more efficient trajectory than previously known. I give this to you in good faith. No hard feelings,” Korosensei said scared.  
“You’re unbelievable,” Karasuma said, snatching the phone away out of Korosensei’s tentacles.  
On the way back to the main building, Nakamura went over to Karma with a plotting smile. “I’ve got a nice surprise for you.”  
“What?” he asked confused.  
She took out her phone and showed the picture. His reaction was so much better than she had expected as his face started matching his hair.  
“She looks so...” He couldn’t even find a word to describe it. Usually he would go for the usual cute or adorable, maybe even beautiful. But he had never seen that look of pure wonder in her eyes before that it made it pretty much impossible.  
“I’ll send it to you if you like,” she said with a grin.  
He composed himself enough to say. “Sure.” Whatever he thought of the picture, it’d still be a nice one to have.

After going through the data Ritsu showed all of the newly collected information on her bigger screen in the class.  
Okuda explained: “Ok. In Layman’s terms the things that they were doing on the space station found that the risk of explosion for a creature with tentacles is inversely proportionate to its size. Ah, that means that the bigger it is, the more stable. The smallest ones carry the biggest risk. So a mouse would be likely to explode. Whereas the probability a human with tentacles blowing up is way lower than we originally thought. Does that make sense?”  
“Ah, so in other words...” Kataoka started.  
“Wait...Hang on. It says the drug indicated below is administered into silicon compound used to stimulate the flow of blood. Oh, I get it. By relieving muscular tension you decrease the chance of the creature going critical. Of course,” Okuda said excited.  
“Tension?” Isogai and Maehara asked in union.  
“When the fondling conditions are satisfied, the possibility of explosion, even initially high, drops to less than 1%,” Okuda explained.  
“1%?”  
“Likely, the organism cells will degenerate before an explosion can occur. Evaporating over the course of, on average over 90 years.”  
“So this drug they’re talking about,” Terasaka said, pointing at the screen. “Can we make it or what?”  
“Yes. It’s very simple,” Okuda said, adjusting her glasses. “As a matter of fact, the compound I made a while ago is almost identical in structure.”  
“Seriously?” the class asked shocked.  
“Wow. So the key to solving this has been in front of us all along?” Fuwa asked intrigued.  
“Are we sure?” Muramatsu asked doubtfully. “I mean it just seems a little too easy, is all.”  
“Easy,” Kayano said from behind. “I don’t think I’d call the road that we’ve been on easy”  
“Kayano,” Nagisa said.  
“My sister gave her life to save Korosensei. To keep him from going rogue and he chose to follow in her footsteps. Risking his neck just to give us a chance in the world. If we hadn’t put our own lives on the line, how far could we go? Would we have found the drug? Even more importantly, would we have grown into a class that could travel into space?” Kayano said with a small smile.  
“Look at it this way. Less than 1% is practically zero. Even if we don’t kill him, we can still keep the Earth from blowing up,” Sugino said, pumped up, making the whole class cheer.  
“Wait a minute. What about the assassination?” Isogai asked unsurely. “We’ve been working on it as a class since first term. Are we calling it off? Is that what we’ve decided?”  
“I guess this means it kinda is, yeah. Maybe...,” Sugino said pensively.  
“Nagisa, this was your idea,” Terasaka said, facing Nagisa. “What do you want to do?”  
“However minute the possibility might be,” Karasuma put in. “The government isn’t going to cancel its plans. Not as long as a creature like him is running loose.”  
After a short pause Nagisa said with a smile: “I want to be respectful of the whole class. Particularly since we’ve made it this far.”  
And so it was decided that if the class couldn’t Korosensei by the March deadline, they’d stop being assassins in training and opt for a more traditional student-teacher dynamic. But until then the class would brandish their blades in the strength of convictions. After all assassination wasn’t just the bond that they shared with Korosensei, it’s the bond they shared with each other.


	16. Valentine gifts

The next term had started and now it was the day of love – more specifically Valentine’s Day – at least for the girls, since it was customary for the girls to give chocolate to the guys that they liked in Japan or to any guy friends that they had as obligatory chocolates.  
“Hey, Cathy,” Anjerika said to her friend who was just closing her locker after taking out her books for the next subject.  
“Hey, Anjerika. What’s up?”  
“Nothing much. But I do have a surprise for you,” Anjerika said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a box of chocolates. “Here, they’re for you.”  
“Um, Anjerika. Even though I am extremely honoured by this, you must know that I’m not into girls,” Cathy said unsurely.  
“Neither am I, silly. They’re for you to give to Karma. I knew that you probably wouldn’t be thinking about it, so I bought some for you.” She smiled at her friend playfully.  
“What?” Cathy asked shocked, feeling her face starting to get red. “Anjerika, why would you...? I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”  
“Why not? You’re just giving your best friend chocolates,” Anjerika said with a teasing smile.  
“No it’s...it’s not that...,” Cathy said nervously, lost for words.  
“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll do great. I’ll be there for you,” Anjerika said, putting a reassuring hand on Cathy’s shoulder.  
“You will?” Cathy asked hopefully.  
“Yeah. From the distance, making sure that he doesn’t do anything stupid.”  
Cathy sighed. “Guess that’s the best I’m going to get. I’ll consider it,” she said, putting the chocolates away in her bag. “What about you? You give Rukasu any chocolates today?”  
“Well yeah, but he’s denser than dense when it comes down to things like this, so he just politely accepted them.”  
Cathy chuckled. “Ah, a true man. Maybe I’ll be in luck and Karma will also be like that.”  
“Doubt it. He did score a perfect score on the end-of-term exams after all.”  
“Yeah, but academic knowledge and people knowledge are two very different things.”

As the girls were having their conversation, Kayano was about to do something very interesting in the E Class building. Karma and Nakamura had managed to convince her to give chocolates to Nagisa. And so she went to the classroom where Nagisa was and when he excited the classroom she grabbed onto his coat and softly pulled him to the side.  
“Kayano?” Nagisa asked confused. “What’s wrong?” he asked a furiously blushing Kayano. “Why are you so quiet?”  
_Oh god. My heart’s beating so fast,_ Kayano thought, holding the chocolates behind her back. _How do I do this? Do I look all right? What do I say?_ “Um, hey Nagisa. Where are you headed after graduation?”  
“Honestly I know the career path I want to follow. I’m just not really sure that it’s something I’m cut out for,” Nagisa responded, looking away.  
_He wants to be a teacher,_ Kayano realised. _It’s obvious he looks up to Korosensei. Not for the reasons most of us do, but because Korosensei has a knack for bringing out the best in people. When Nagisa talks to him at the end of the month for a future career, he’ll ask about education._  
Suddenly Nagisa noticed something and looked up. “What’s Korosensei doing up there?” Nagisa wondered aloud, noticing that Korosensei was sitting in a tree, all pink and looking at a picture. He’s fixated, whatever it is, Nagisa thought, taking out his gun out of his bag and aimed it at Korosensei. “Of course he’s out of range. Why would I think that he’d leave him so open to attack?” Nagisa said, rubbing his head in embarrassment.  
_Ooh, that look. I love it when he stares dead ahead like that. It’s so intense. Not that long ago, revenge was my whole life. I should’ve been crushed when my plan failed, but I wasn’t, because it was Nagisa who stopped me. He’s the kindest soul I’ve even known. Sure, he’s an assassin, but his bloodlust filled the whole in my heart,_ Kayano thought longingly. _What do I say to that face? What words do I use?_ “Nagisa,” Kayano finally said.  
“Huh?” Nagisa said, looking back at Kayano after putting his gun away.  
“As a thank you,” she said, holding up the chocolates. “These chocolates are yours for always being by my side. Here,” she said, shoving the chocolate box into Nagisa’s chest, which he accepted.  
“Are you sure?”  
“Yep. Ok then, mission accomplished,” Kayano said, as she started pushing Nagisa away.  
“Imagine being able to cast your feelings aside at the moment of truth like that,” Karma, who had been watching the whole scene along with Nakamura, said. “Wow. There’s no question, she’s Miss Yukimura’s sister.”  
“No kidding, right? So noble,” Nakamura agreed. “Now, that’s out of the way. What about you?”  
“Huh?” Karma asked confused.  
“Don’t play dumb. I’m sure you want that girl to give you some chocolates. What will you do if she does?”  
“Ah, Cathy,” Karma said, reaching into his bag. “I thought of a plan for if she does,” he said, taking out a box of chocolates of his own. “She loves food and everything, so I thought that I could give this to her as a compensation in case she gives me any.”  
“You really don’t want her getting too close to you, do you? And what if she gives you obligatory chocolates?”  
“Ain’t got much of a choice with the octopus, do I? And like I said, she loves food, so it’s unlikely that she’ll get mad or anything. She’s not from around here, so she wouldn’t actually think of getting something like that. She never did in the past anyway.”

And so the moment Anjerika had been waiting for finally arrived. “There he is,” she said, pointing at the nearing Karma. “Come on. You can do it,” she said, shoving Cathy towards her best friend.  
“Got it. Going,” Cathy said, heading in the indicated direction. “Hi, Karma,” she said once she was standing close enough to her friend.  
“Hi, Cathy,” Karma said with a smile.  
“How was your day?” Cathy said nervously, still not sure what she should say when the moment for the chocolates arrived.  
“Guess you could say it was quite eventful,” Karma said thoughtfully.  
“Eventful? Were people giving each other chocolates and all?”  
“Yeah, you could say that.”  
“What about you?” Cathy said, feeling her cheeks starting to redden.  
“Nah. Doubt anyone would to be honest,” Karma said, hoping that Nakamura hadn’t been correct in her presumption.  
“Oh. Well it’s just that...I have some for you,” Cathy said, bringing forward a decent sized box of chocolates. “You know, considering you’re my best friend and all.”  
_Why does she have to be so lovable?_ Karma thought with a fond smile. “Huh. Guess great minds think alike,” Karma said, bringing forward his own box of chocolates.  
“Karma...but...you shouldn’t have,” Cathy said, getting more embarrassed but now for a different reason.  
“Why not? I just thought that considering you were kind enough to buy me some food, I’d repay you with some of my own.”  
“You’re such an idiot!” she shouted, embarrassed. “And guys aren’t even supposed to give out chocolates today.”  
He chuckled and shrugged. “Yeah. Now are we going to exchange the chocolates or what?”  
“Yeah,” Cathy said, handing over the chocolates and accepting Karma’s. “You went on all out buying this box, didn’t you?” she said, feeling that the box was heavier than the one she’d gotten from Anjerika.  
“No big. Like I said, a reward. Think you won’t be able to eat them all?” Karma asked with a teasing smile.  
“No. But I’d still like to share them as a thank you.”  
“Huh?”  
“Yeah. Since I don’t have any homework today I was thinking that we could hang out somewhere and eat them.”  
“Fast thinker. Ok. Let’s go to my place then. Can play some games and eat all of these chocolates.”  
And so the pair went to Karma’s apartment and played games the whole afternoon until Cathy had to go home.

A bit further from the conversation place Anjerika asked, “What did I just witness?”  
“I’m not entirely sure myself,” Rukasu, who had decided to tag along just because, said.  
“What’s that idiot thinking?! Couldn’t he just accept those chocolates like a real man?” Anjerika asked angrily.  
“What do you mean? He did.”  
“Yeah, but he gave some in return. That’s like saying ‘I respect your decision, but I’m not agreeing’. I can see that he wants to be with her and yet he does something like this. What’s his problem?”  
“Dunno. Maybe if you asked him,” Rukasu suggested.  
“Oh, I will,” Anjerika said, getting out her phone.  
“Wait? You have his number?”  
“Yeah, nicked it off Cathy’s phone a while ago.”  
“Why?”  
“For moments like this,” she said, selecting Karma’s number and calling it.  
“Who’s this?” Karma asked, picking up.  
“It’s Anjerika. We need to talk,” Anjerika said calmly.  
“When a girl says that in a movie, it’s usually bad news for the guy. What’s up?” Karma asked intrigued.  
“Oh I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you shot your best friend down like it was nothing.”  
“Shot down?” Karma asked confused, trying to remember the conversation from earlier. “Nothing like that happened.”  
“Maybe not like you’d expect it to. But you still gave her chocolates in return. The hell’s that all about?”  
“Like I told her, a reward for getting me some chocolates. And yes, before you say anything, she’s happy with them.”  
“No, Karma, that’s beside the point. It’s just like you’re barricading yourself against her. Why would you do that?”  
“I can’t explain,” Karma said sadly. “I’ll tell her later, promise. But for now I just can’t.”  
“Guess that’s the best I’ll get out of you. Have fun spending time with her,” Anjerika said, sighing and hanging up.  
“I’m guessing that it didn’t go too well,” Rukasu noted.  
Anjerika glared at her friend. “That’s an understatement. I don’t even know why he won’t just admit his feelings and the weirdest part is that he sounds genuinely sad about it all.”  
“Then there must be some kind of reason behind it all, no matter how strange it may be.”  
“Guess so.”


	17. Showdown

It was nearing the end of term and everyone had passed the exams and made it into their high school of choice, so Korosensei decided to commemorate E Class by making a special yearbook. Apparently Korosensei had made 30 thousand selfies with members of the class and he wanted to sort through them all and chose the perfect pictures. But unfortunately most of the pictures were quite disturbing and embarrassing so the students decided to rips those up, which made Korosensei, want to take more pictures outside and they even went on a world tour for more pictures.  
Later that day Korosensei said that he would be spending the rest of the night going through the pictures and picking out the perfect ones, which gave the government the chance to execute their plan of shooting a specially modified laser from outer space at him. The laser had managed to make contact with Korosensei and seriously injured him, but still hadn’t been able to kill him. The government noticed this and set up a special force field around the mountain to make sure that Korosensei couldn’t escape.  
Then there was a news announcement, “As you can see these measures serve to contain and eliminate the clear and present danger to mankind’s existence. Thanks to the shield, the entity in question now has no place to go. As it turns out, this is the creature responsible for the moon’s destruction last year. We only learned today that this creature, this monster rather has not only made explicit threats involving the destruction of Earth, but has been posing as a teacher of all things, in order to take the classroom of junior high school children hostage. We don’t know why, but the evidence speaks for itself. We have no choice.”  
Cathy, who had been watching the news and also later saw that they were talking about Class 3-E, went to the phone to call up her best friend.  
“Hi, Cathy,” Karma said, picking up with a smile, totally oblivious to what had been said on the news.  
“Karma, please tell me it’s not true,” Cathy said, feeling tears welling up in her eyes.  
“Cathy, what you talking about?” Karma asked confused and slightly worried, getting up out of his laying position.  
“I just saw the news that a bunch of junior high school kids were being held hostage by a monster posing as a teacher and they tried to interview some of your classmates. Was it your class? Were you being held hostage?”  
“What? No, Cathy. That’s not true,” Karma said, cursing the news reporter. “I wasn’t being held hostage or anything.”  
“And what about the monster then. Is that true?”  
“Yes, but...,” Karma said, not knowing how to explain things to her now. “Cathy, I promise that I’ll tell you everything later on, but I have to go now.”  
“What? Wait, Karma, where you going?” Cathy said, fearing for her best friend’s life. “I-I have to tell you something.”  
_She can’t be serious. Not now,_ Karma thought irritated. “Sorry, Cathy, but whatever you have to say; say it later. I have to go. Bye,” he said, hanging up. Then he sent a text to someone and switched of his phone to make sure no one could call him while he was away.  
“No, Karma. Wait. Karma, please. I love you, Karma, I love you. Please. Please, Karma, don’t go,” Cathy said through tears, falling down to her pillow, still speaking to her phone even though she knew that he’d hung up. “Please gods; don’t take him away from me. I love him so much it hurts. I never thought I could love someone real as much as I do with him, but I do. So please, please don’t take him.”  
Later she tried to go out of the apartment, but was promptly stopped by Alex who had received a text from Karma not to let Cathy go anywhere outside the apartment.

Karma on the other hand, even though he knew that there was a chance that he’d just upset his best friend, went to meet up with the rest of his classmates near the mountainside. After being attacked by the media with questions, Karasuma took them to a base where he explained what was going on.  
“Mister Karasuma. What have they done to Korosensei?” Isogai asked.  
“I’m afraid we’re out of time. The government had no choice but to initiate their end-game strategy before it was too late,” Karasuma said.  
“End game strategy?” Isogai repeated.  
“So is that what this barrier is all about?” Takebayashi asked.  
“The barrier is just a means of keeping him from being able to escape. In a week they’ll use a high powered laser to finish the job.”  
The class gasped.  
“You’re kidding me. This was our assassination,” Maehara said with indignation.  
“Yes. And you’re efforts have not been unappreciated. But it’s time now for you to step aside,” Karasuma said calmly.  
“So we do all the ground work and you reap all the glory?” Terasaka shouted angrily.  
“This isn’t fair. Why didn’t you tell us anything?” Kurahashi shouted sadly.  
“And how come the media’s making it sound like Korosensei totally manipulated us?” Kanzaki asked.  
“This is not cool, sir. We were supposed to assassinate him and now we’re being dealt out?” Kataoka asked.  
“You know Korosensei won’t stand for this,” Isogai said with balled fists. “He’s expecting to be killed by his students.”  
“Come on, Mister Karasuma. Please. You gotta tell them to let us in there,” Nagisa begged.  
“The mountain’s been fortified. I’m sorry. Elite forces have established a parameter. There are no openings to take advantage of. Your work’s done here,” Karasuma said finally.  
“No it’s not. There’s too much we still haven’t talked to him about. So many things we want to try. If you’re not going to help us, then get out of our wa-” before Nagisa could finish his sentence, Karasuma had him pinned on the floor.  
“You know I can’t let you in there,” Karasuma said. “National security is on the line right now. Now listen and listen good,” Karasuma said, picking up Nagisa by the collar so they were face to face. “Do not give me a hard time. Is that clear?”  
“Give it up, Nagisa,” Karma said from the back. “He’s not on our side. He’s just another stiff collared company man. When it’s down to the wire, the only thing a man like him ever does is follow orders.”  
“You’re damn right,” Karasuma agreed. “My orders are to protect the people I’m entrusted with at all costs. Bottom line, one way or another, he has to be killed. Who does the honours, isn’t up to you,” Karasuma said and then walked to the exit of the tent. “Get them out. Have them escorted to a secure area,” he said to an officer before he exited the tent.  
“Yes, sir,” the officer said.  
“Son of a bitch. Do you believe this bullshit?” Terasaka scoffed.  
“Did you hear what he said?” Nagisa asked in a soft voice.  
“What?”  
“About giving him a hard time. I have a feeling he didn’t just choose those words at random.”  
“Ok. So?”  
“Don’t you get it? Think back to what he told us earlier.”  
In the past Karasuma had said: “You’ve shaped up quite nicely. In fact, if I ever fall on hard times, you’ll be the ones I call.”  
“Those words,” Nagisa said, facing his classmates. “I think that saying ‘don’t give me a hard time’ was his way of getting across he believes in us. Mister Karasuma is counting on us to handle this. I’m positive. So let’s put our heads together and devise a plan. We all know what the goal is here. We know exactly what we’re capable of. The question is: what would Korosensei want us to do.”  
And so the class decided to assemble and sneak into the school unnoticed three hours before Korosensei’s deadline.  
Korosensei was greeted outside by the children, who had brought a cake along to celebrate his birthday. But before any celebrating could happen Yanagisawa appeared, along with the second Reaper – Korosensei’s disciple. Then Yanagisawa and the Reaper become powered up by the same tentacle formula that had been injected into Korosensei and launch an attack on the teacher. And so the fight began. After a while it could be seen that Korosensei was struggling against the attacks, since he also had to protect the children beside defending himself and attacking. Seeing her teacher struggle, Kayano attacked the reaper and is mortally injured. This sends Korosensei into a state of all kinds of emotions and because of that he is able to defeat both Yanagisawa and the Reaper. Later it is revealed that when Kayano was injured, Korosensei managed to salvage some blood, and because of this he could heal the injury. Now because of the intense fight, Korosensei had been weakened considerably, giving the students the chance to kill him. Then all his students held him down and Nagisa, much to his sorrow, handled the killing blow.


	18. King of idiots

The next day Karasuma came and said that the students would be under constant surveillance and that they were issued a gag order. Finally he said that he would do what he could to lessen the burden.  
Then Kataoka asked, “Kunugigaoka’s graduation ceremony is this afternoon, sir. I think we’ve earned the right to be a part of it. Let us walk across the stage in honour of Korosensei’s memory.”  
“Sure,” Karasuma said smiling. “Yes, of course. I’ll handle things and make the necessary arrangements.”  
Then Isogai stood up and said, “E Class, rise.”  
All of Isogai’s classmates followed his example and bowed towards Karasuma and Jelavic.  
“Mister Karasuma, Professor Bitch, for everything you’ve taught us. We are eternally grateful,” Isogai said bowing.  
“We are eternally grateful,” the other students repeated.  
Karasuma and Jelavic smiled in appreciation.

Once E Class entered the building where the ceremony was being held, Karma got attacked by a hug from Cathy. “Karma, thank the gods. You’re safe,” she said in a soft voice.  
“You begged?” Karma asked, reciprocating the hug and holding her tightly. It was clear by the way he was holding her that he also really needed the hug.  
Cathy nodded.  
“Yeah, I am,” Karma said, looking down at his friend. “Are you all right?”  
“About to graduate and being worried like hell about you, so what do you think?” Cathy replied with a sad smile.  
“Sorry ’bout that. I had to do something,” Karma said, looking away.  
“Something to do with that being that was on the news?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Ok. At least I know something about what you’ve been up to over the past year in that building.”  
“I wish I could tell you more.”  
“How about this? I guess what’s up and you say whether it’s true or false,” Cathy said, flashing Karma a grin.  
“That sounds like a great idea,” Karma said, smiling back. Then he did something completely unexpected. He cleared Cathy’s forehead on any hair and kissed her softly on it. “Thank you, Cathy. For everything.”  
Cathy, not prepared for this show of affection, started blushing furiously and said in a higher than normal voice, “No problem. That’s what friends do after all. I should get going.” She turned around and walking towards her seat.  
“Smooth,” Nagisa said from behind Karma.  
“It’s something. Then you could say that I’ve shown her of what’s to come.”  
“Karma, you do realise that she’s not you’re girlfriend yet, right?” Nagisa said, unsurely.  
“’Course I do. But now that we’re graduating, I can ask her out and make her mine. ’Course still have to see how her truth plan goes first.”  
“Yeah. That’s quite something.”  
Karma laughed. “Well her mind is full of wonderful ideas, so why not.”  
“Indeed.”  
And so the pair took their given seats and collected their degrees.

Once the ceremony was over the media came running through the doors to get some reactions from the students. Luckily Karasuma and his men were able to stop them from getting any further.  
“Ok. Everybody outside now. There’s a bus on standby by the main gate,” Karasuma shouted behind him. Then suddenly Asano stepped forward and his classmates held up a big banner over the students of Class E – so that the media couldn’t see them anymore – and started walking towards the exit.  
“With graduation comes a clean slate. But abandoning former classmates in a time of need would be disgraceful. I may be ruthless, but as you’re future leader, I’m not about to court shame,” Asano said to the students behind him.  
And so everyone of Class E made it out safely and into the bus.

Later that day Cathy went to Karma’s apartment to hear what had happened to him over the past school year. He let her in with a small smile and then they sat down on the sofa so they could talk properly.  
“So did your teacher really blow a part of the moon up? And did he actually take you hostage?”  
“No and no. We followed lessons from him willingly.”  
“And the moon?”  
“That’s a little more complicated,” Karma admitted.  
“Ok. I guess either way it’s quite amazing that something could do so much damage,” Cathy said with wonder.  
“It’s not like what did it really had much of a choice. It just happened.”  
“And that also would’ve happened to your teacher,” Cathy concluded. “Is that why he had to be eliminated?”  
Karma smiled down fondly at Cathy. “Yes. It’s nice when you put those brains of yours to good use,” he said, knocking lightly on her head.  
Cathy put her hands on her head and pouted. “Shut up, you. We’re talking about something serious here.”  
“I know. You wouldn’t beg like that otherwise. What else do you want to know?”  
“Your class was chosen to kill him. Why your class? Did they do something wrong?”  
“No. He made a promise to someone that he would look after the members of Class 3-E,” Karma said simply.  
“That’s so sweet,” Cathy said in awe. “You really had an awesome teacher, didn’t you?”  
“Yeah,” Karma said in a sad voice.  
Cathy realising what she had said, tried to comfort him. “Karma, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say that.”  
“It all right, Cathy. You deserve to know.”  
“Yeah, but it doesn’t have to be now. You need time to recover from everything. I don’t want to make you feel worse or anything.”  
“How could you possibly make me feel worse?” Karma asked with a sad smile.  
“Well...I mean...I did just say something bad.”  
“Not entirely bad. You could do worse.”  
“Guess I could,” Cathy said, leaning against the sofa. “But for now, I know enough. I know that apart from the possibility of exploding, you weren’t in any real danger. That’s good enough for me.”  
_I wonder whether I should tell her about when I first met Korosensei,_ Karma thought. _She’d probably be mad, but she still deserves to know._ “Cathy, there’s something that I have to tell you.”  
“What?” Cathy said, straightening up and facing Karma expectedly.  
_Come on you can tell her,_ Karma urged himself onwards. “When I first had to try and assassinate Korosensei, I did something stupid.”  
“Stupid?” Cathy tilted her head in confusion. “Karma, we all do something stupid at some point or another. That’s what makes us human after all. Why you telling me this?”  
“Because what I did was...” Karma said and then went on to explain what he had tried to do and how Korosensei had saved him at the end.  
Cathy just stared blankly at him. Karma could see that she was seething, but was too afraid to say anything, because at this moment anything could set her off.  
“Just to make sure I heard you correctly,” Cathy said in a too calm voice. “You tried to kill yourself to see whether Korosensei would jump in to save you or not? You put your life in the hands of someone you just met and knew nothing about?”  
“Yes,” Karma said nervously.  
“You idiot! What the hell was going through your mind at the time?! I have an idea: absolutely nothing! I know that you’re all for taking calculated risks and stuff when it comes down to hurting others, but what the hell?!”  
Even though Karma had been expecting this outburst, he still was taken aback. “You’re right. I wasn’t thinking. I just wanted to kill him.”  
“And what about me? I guess you didn’t give me a second thought.”  
“Not until afterwards, no.”  
“Do I mean so little to you that you don’t consider me before taking a big risk like that?”  
“I was too wrapped up in killing Korosensei. I’m sorry. Now I’d do anything to protect you and I also wanted to in the past, I was just stupider.”  
“Stupider’s most definitely the right word, Karma. You really are a king among idiots,” Cathy said, nearing him. Her anger had subsided into slight exhaustion.  
“That’s a new one,” Karma said with a smile. “Are you sure? There’re still quite a few idiots out there who mean a lot to you.”  
“Yeah. But here, in this world, you mean the most to me.”  
“Well, in that case. Does that mean that you’re willing to go on a date with me?”  
Cathy made a little peeping noise and said, “Yes.”  
Karma chuckled. “Didn’t know I’d get that kind of reaction from you.”  
“Shut up. I just wasn’t expecting it, okay?” Cathy said irritated, covering her mouth out of embarrassment.  
“Don’t people say to expect the unexpected?” Karma said, leaning over so his face was just a few centimetres from hers.  
“I don’t think that that saying is about dating,” Cathy retorted with a smile.  
“Guess not. So where d’you wanna go?”  
“Anything’s fine really,” Cathy said with a smile, feeling her heart trying to escape her chest.  
“Anything, huh? How about an amusement park then?”  
Cathy beamed at the suggestion. “Yeah, that sounds great.”  
“It’s a date,” Karma said with a smile.  
Then suddenly Cathy’s phone went off. “Sorry, it appears Alex is calling,” Cathy said after getting it out.  
_Alex has wanted this for so long and when it finally happens, she calls in the middle of it all,_ Karma thought with a small smile, watching her go a bit further for privacy.  
“Alex, what’s with the call all of a sudden?” Cathy snarled so quiet that only her conversation partner could hear.  
“Sounds like something important was happening,” Alex said with a smile. “What’s going on?” she sang.  
“Not now. What’d you want?”  
“Wondering whether you’re coming home for dinner or not. I was planning on making some mac and cheese for celebration.”  
“Really?” Cathy asked excitedly. Even though it was just a simple dish, she loved it with all her heart. “I guess I’ll be coming home then.”  
“Ok. See you later. And I want all of the juicy details that made you irritated at me for interrupting it.”  
“Guess I don’t have much of a choice. Bye, Alex.”  
“Bye bye, Cathy,” Alex said, hanging up.  
“So what’s up?” Karma asked once Cathy’s conversation was over.  
“It appears Alex is making a special meal for my graduation, so I’ll have to go. Sorry,” Cathy said, slightly embarrassed.  
“It’s all right,” Karma said getting up. “I still get to walk you home right?”  
“Are you never going to let me go out alone?” Cathy asked with a smile.  
“Not in the slightest,” Karma replied with a smile.

On the way to Cathy’s apartment, Karma did something unexpected. Or at least in Cathy’s eyes. He put his hand on her back. “Karma...,” she said in a small voice.  
“Something wrong?” he asked, looking down at her.  
“No. Just wondering what you’re doing.”  
“Mmmh, let’s see. How about showing to the world you’re mine,” he said thoughtfully with a smile.  
Cathy laughed. “You know that that makes no sense since you haven’t really asked that question yet, right?”  
“Oh yeah. You’re right. Should’ve thought of that sooner.”  
“You’re really such an idiot. So you going to ask, or should I?” she said stopping and looking up at him.  
“You want to ask?” he said, smiling down at her lovingly.  
“Well since you asked me out on a date, can’t really see the harm. But then again, it is kinda the guy’s thing to do.”  
Karma laughed. “Truly a beautiful idiot. Will you be my girlfriend, Cathy?”  
“Yes,” she said, feeling her smile grow to its limits.  
“That was simple,” he said, pulling her even closer. “Let’s get going then,” he said as he started walking further.  
“Mmhm,” Cathy said. Then she suddenly thought of something and said laughingly, “Alex is going to lose it when I tell her about this.”  
“Yeah well, it’s what you’d expect from a crazy lady like her.”  
Cathy laughed and slapped Karma lightly on the chest. “You may be my boyfriend now, Karma, but that doesn’t mean that you get to talk about my guardian like that.” She added under her breath, “Even if it’s true.”  
“I like the sound of that. And you’re my girlfriend.”  
Cathy giggled. “Yep, girlfriend it is.” _I can’t believe this is finally happening,_ she thought ecstatically.  
Once they reached the apartment complex Karma said, “It appears we’re almost there.”  
“Yeah. I should get going up,” Cathy said, starting to walk towards the front door.  
He looked at her with a small loving smile, he was truly happy that he was finally officially together with her that he just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. “Cathy,” he said in a small voice while actually looking at the ground.  
She turned around and looked at him confused. “Yeah.” She cocked her head. “Karma, what’s wrong?”  
He shook his head. “Can I come up with you?” He could actually feel the blush forming on his cheeks. “You know, to spend more time with you.”  
Her knees buckled slightly. She put her hands on her mouth to hide her broadening smile. “Oh, Karma,” she said in a slightly higher voice. She removed her hands from her face and shook her head, a broad smile still prominent on her lips. “Yeah. Of course.”  
She reached out her hand and he took it, letting him lead her to the apartment. She smiled at him curiously. She could still see the remnant of the blush on his cheeks. “Is there maybe another reason you want to come up with me?”  
He let out a deep breath. “I want to protect you, to keep you safe. And I feel like I can only do that when I’m with you. You’re so amazing by yourself, but I’m scared that something will happen if I’m not there.”  
Her smile softened as she looked at him lovingly. “And you hope to lessen that chance by coming up with me.”  
He turned to look at her with a smile. “Exactly.”  
She laughed and shook her head. “Can’t believe this. Ok. Fine. You win, you idiot. You’re allowed to come with me wherever you want.” She held up her finger in a lecturing way. “On the condition that you don’t end up being too protective, okay.”  
“’Course, dear.”  
She shook her head. “You’re such an idiot,” she said under her breath.  
He leant down so he was closer to her. “Say something, dear?”  
She looked up at him with a small smile. “You’re an idiot.” Her smile softened. “My idiot.”  
Fortunately for him she looked away before another blush formed on his cheeks. He would really have to learn how to deal with all this. Though he had a plan for how to make her more embarrassed.  
“We’ve arrived. Are you also going to insist on coming in or will my demon leave me now?”  
“He will,” Karma said, looking down at his girlfriend lovingly. “But not without saying goodbye.”  
Cathy cocked her head. She wanted to ask him what he meant but was promptly stopped by his lips on hers and his right hand on her cheek. When he pulled back she let out a little peep.  
“Too soon?” he asked worriedly, feeling his cheeks heating up.  
“No,” she squeaked. “Just unexpected is all. And good.”  
“Glad you liked it, since there’s plenty more where that came from,” he said in her ear.  
“Karma, you’re such idiot,” she said, pushing her head into his chest.  
“My dear Cathy, you are so easily embarrassed,” he said, putting his arms around her and resting his head on hers.  
“Shut up,” she said.  
Before anything else could be said, Alex suddenly opened to door because of all of the ruckus that the two had been making. When she was introduced to the scene a broad grin appeared on her face. “What is this glorious scene that I am being introduced to?”  
“Alex,” Cathy said shocked, pulling out of Karma’s embrace, feeling her blush deepen. “What are you doing out here?”  
“I heard voices and thought that you’d arrived. I was clearly right. Sorry, I’ll leave you two to say your goodbyes.” She then looked Cathy in the eyes and mouthed the word ‘details’ at her.  
Cathy sighed. “The great all powerful mood killer.”  
“See? Told ya. Crazy.”  
Cathy looked up at Karma with an amused look. “Yeah well, to some people we’re probably also crazy.”  
Karma ruffled Cathy’s hair. “So you’re saying that we’re crazy demons?”  
Cathy shrugged. “Pretty much.”  
“I can live with that. Goodbye, Cathy. I’ll text or call you later for more details about our date.”  
“Sounds good. Bye, Karma,” Cathy said with a broad smile.


	19. The guardian

Once Cathy opened the door to her apartment, she was greeted by Alex who had a big expecting smile on her face. “Well, what happened?”  
“First I need to see proof of my delicious graduation meal before I tell you anything,” Cathy said with a smile and crossed arms.  
“Buzz kill,” Alex said pouting. “Come on then,” she said, beckoning her ward to the kitchen. She opened the oven door to reveal a big platter off macaroni and cheese. “Satisfied?”  
“Very,” Cathy said with a sparkle in her eyes.  
Alex looked up at Cathy with an amused look. “It’s a wonder he’s not jealous of your love for food.”  
“No, the wonder is the fictional characters.”  
“Yeah, that as well. He’s truly a great guy, which I called. I shipped the two of you before either of you knew the first thing about love.”  
“Don’t talk to me about shipping, Alex. You were just being weird,” Cathy said, getting out some plates.  
“Weird or not, I was right.”  
“Yeah.”  
“So what happened?” Alex sang.  
“Everything ready fist, then story. I don’t want you dropping anything,” Cathy said strictly.  
“Is it that good?” Alex asked with a sparkle in her eyes.  
“You’ll hear and see,” Cathy said, putting everything on the table.  
Once the pair was seated Alex asked excitedly, “So, what happened?”  
“We talked for a big about what had been going on over the past year,” Cathy explained. She noticed that Alex wanted to ask something, but went on to say, “Can’t tell you. He’s not allowed to tell anyone. Telling me could’ve gotten him into trouble, so telling you would make it even worse.”  
Alex nodded in understanding. “Then what?”  
“The conversation evolved to the perfect moment where he could ask me out and he did,” Cathy replied with a smile.  
Alex clapped her hands excitedly. “Perfect, absolutely perfect. I love it. Is that when I called you?”  
“Yeah. Just after we agreed on where to go.”  
“Sorry about that,” Alex said looking down sadly.  
“You don’t have to say sorry, Alex. It all turned out great in the end,” Cathy said, patting Alex’s hand in comfort.  
“It did?” The sparkle in Alex’s eye returning as she looked at her ward. “What happened?”  
“Well of course being the protective idiot that he is, he walked me home. As you saw. And we got to talk for a bit. And then he...he...” Cathy started giggling, clearly still giddy from the earlier events.  
“He what?”  
“He asked me to be his girlfriend,” Cathy said with a big smile.  
“Oh my god, this is the best day ever,” Alex said, clapping her hands over her mouth.  
“No kidding. And I’m experiencing it all.”  
“Anything else you want to tell me?”  
Cathy started blushing and hid her face in one of her hands while playing with her dinner. “No, no, there’s nothing. Nothing at all.”  
“Come on. I can see that you want to tell me,” Alex said, leaning over to her ward.  
“But this is so weird to talk about already and the fact that you’re all happy about it all makes it even weirder.”  
“Isn’t that a good thing? Don’t you want me to be happy for you?”  
Cathy uncovered her eyes. “Of course I do. It’s just weird is all.”  
“Is dating the guy you like weird?”  
“No.”  
“Well what’s so weird about it then?”  
“You being so cool about it. If my folks knew about him...”  
“Yeah, they probably wouldn’t be so chill. But I’m not them and they live in a totally different country.”  
“Yeah, but what if one day they come over to visit and they want to meet him?”  
“I’m sure by then we’ll have things figured out.”  
“Hope so.” Cathy sighed. “Ok, this is the last thing that you’ll want to know about,” she said stuffing some macaroni in her mouth. “Thing is back in the hallway when we were supposed to say goodbye...” Cathy smiled. “...he kissed me.”  
This reaction, as expected by Cathy, was totally different. Alex ran over to Cathy’s side, hugged her and said, “Oh, my baby girl’s all grown up. Going on a date with a handsome guy, kissing him.”  
“Well, he kissed me.”  
“Doesn’t matter. It happened. What was it like?” she asked, facing her ward head on.  
“Um...good.”  
“Good,” Alex said disappointed. “Not excellent, magnificent, the best thing in the world?”  
“Well, it’s my first kiss, Alex. No need to be all dramatic about it.”  
“That’s all the more reason to be dramatic about it.”  
“Well, I’m not as experienced as you so I’m hardly one to talk.”  
“Shush, little dove,” Alex said, putting her finger to Cathy’s lips. “We’re talking about you now. But you wouldn’t mind more.”  
Cathy laughed nervously. “No, I wouldn’t.”  
“Good,” Alex said, getting back up and walking towards her seat. “Now that that’s over you can finally enjoy your graduation meal in peace.”  
“Peace is what I wish for after all,” Cathy said, feeling a slight afterglow of the kiss in her lips.


	20. Preparations

Of course Cathy had also told Anjerika about what had happened and the oncoming date and so she had rushed over to help her prepare for it. “Ooh, you have so many beautiful dresses,” Anjerika commented as she was looking through all of Cathy’s clothes. “It’s hard to just pick one.”  
“Well at the very least we know that it can’t be a too fancy dress since it’ll be at a theme park,” Cathy commented from her bed. “And don’t you think that it’s probably best for me to wear trousers or something else instead since we’re going to a theme park?”  
“Guess so,” Anjerika said, moving towards another part of Cathy’s clothes cupboard. “It’s actually quite an interesting place to have a first date. Usually it’s at a fancy restaurant or something.”  
“Who knows? Maybe one day we will go to one. It’s just that a whole day at a theme park is more enjoyable than a few hours at a fancy restaurant.”  
Anjerika’s smile brightened. “Did you just say that spending the whole day with him is more enjoyable than food?”  
“I didn’t say that.” Cathy chuckled. “I only said that spending a whole day with him is more enjoyable than some fancy restaurant. Either way we’ll probably end up eating some place or another. It’s not like romance is about fanciness or anything.”  
“Truly a great heart,” Anjerika said happily, as she went back to checking out the clothes.  
“She comments on a demoness,” Cathy added with a chuckle.  
“Demon hardly means that you have a bad heart. Look at him. He’s a more known one and yet he’ll do anything to protect you and make you happy.”  
“Yeah,” Cathy said, smiling down at the floor embarrassed.  
“Cute,” Anjerika said, as she took out a combination of clothes. “What do you think?”  
“That will do,” Cathy said with a smile. Anjerika was holding up a fancy shirt with short sleeves, shorts and a long cardigan.  
“Good that we can agree on that.”  
“Yes.”  
Anjerika tipped her head. “Now’s the hair.”  
“The hair,” Cathy said, holding up her hands to cover her head. “What’s wrong with my hair?”  
“Nothing, nothing,” Anjerika said dismissively. “But a romantic place or not, you’ll have to look at your best and that includes having a great hairstyle.”  
“Gods, you’re bossy,” Cathy commented under her breath. “So what do you want to do?”  
“We’ll see. I’m sure I’ll figure something out,” Anjerika said with a plotting smile.


	21. The date

It was finally the day that Cathy, Anjerika and Alex had been looking forward to – date day. “So you think I look good?” Cathy asked, twirling around.  
“You look great,” Alex reassured her with a smile.  
“Wonderful,” Anjerika added.  
“You sure?” Cathy asked nervously.  
“Yes. It’s funny that you’re so nervous. It’s almost like you have pre-wedding jitters.”  
“Wedding?” Cathy asked surprised, her whole face turning bright red.  
“Just kidding,” Anjerika said, trying to dismiss the thought with her hands. “Let’s take it one step at a time. Just get through this date first. Then in a couple of years, maybe more. You never know.”  
“Anjerika!” Cathy shouted.  
“How long do you actually think it’ll take?” Alex asked in a hushed voice.  
“No idea. But I’m dibbing on the maid of honour,” Anjerika whispered back.  
“Of course. I’ll just happily sit by. She’ll better invite me.”  
“What are you two whispering about?” Cathy asked, having calmed herself down a bit.  
“Nothing,” the two said in union.  
Then there was a knock on the door.  
“He’s here,” Cathy said, walking towards the door. “Go away. I don’t want you two to watch us like hawks.”  
“Fine,” they said in a dejected voice in union.  
_I’ll find out soon enough what they’re going to do anyway,_ Anjerika thought mischievously.  
Once the pair had left the main room Cathy quickly opened the door. “Karma,” she said with a broad smile.  
Oh, I love you, Karma thought as he took in the person standing in front of him. “You look great.”  
“Thank you,” Cathy said, rubbing her head. “So it’s not too much?”  
“No, it’s just perfect.” He whispered in her ear, “Like you.”  
Cathy giggled. “That’s a lie.”  
“Really? Who told you that?”  
“Well, I know for a fact that I’m not perfect. So there,” she said, flashing him a smile.  
“What if I told you that that fact is incorrect?”  
“And you’re sooo knowledgeable,” Cathy retorted.  
“When it comes down to you, very.”  
Cathy laughed. “That sounds a little creepy.”  
“I just know what you tell me and from spending time with you I’ve concluded that you are,” Karma said simply.  
“Fine. I’m perfect,” Cathy said giving in with a smile. “But nowhere near as perfect as you.”  
Karma, not expecting this kind of compliment, turned bright red and turned his head around.  
“I win,” Cathy said with a grin.  
“For now,” he said, turning back to face Cathy. “But I’m not done with you yet, Cathy.”  
“Ooh, I wouldn’t dream of it, Karma.”

Karma had brought over a taxi and they drove to the theme park that he had chosen out. Once there Cathy ran over to the ticket stalls.  
“Wow, I’ve never seen you willingly run for anything,” Karma said mock impressed as he took out his wallet.  
“Well yeah, theme park,” Cathy said, enthusiastically pointing towards the theme park.  
“Calm, my dear. First the tickets and then the theme park,” Karma said with an affectionate smile.  
“Oh yeah,” Cathy said, reaching into her handbag.  
“No, my treat. Everything. Don’t you remember what you said when we went to see the new Sonic Ninja movie?”  
Cathy thought back. “Oh yeah.”  
“And considering this is such an occasion, I get to pay for everything.”  
“Lucky you. With your money and rich parents,” Cathy said, letting her boyfriend take the lead.  
“They’re not that rich.”  
“Rich enough to travel the world and leave you behind,” Cathy said disapprovingly.  
“Still hate that, huh? Guess it can’t be helped. They’ll probably show up sooner or later.”  
“And then what? Spend some time with their son and leave for god knows how long. That’s pretty damn irresponsible if you ask me. I may not know anything about being a parent considering how young I am and all, but even I wouldn’t do that.”  
“You can ask them when you meet them,” Karma said and then to the ticket salesperson, “Two tickets please.”  
“When I meet them?”  
“Yeah, considering you’re my girlfriend they’ll probably want to meet you at some point or another. Not like I’m going to tell them straightaway.” Once they had received the tickets Karma said, “Thank you,” and they walked further towards the theme park.  
“Ok,” Cathy said unsurely. “Does that mean that you also want to meet my parents at some point?”  
“Sure. Can’t see why not.”  
“Because they’ll probably think you’re crazy or something. In a really bad way.”  
“How bad?”  
“Dunno.”  
“Relax,” Karma said, putting his arm over Cathy’s shoulder. “I’m sure it’ll be fine. We’ll figure something out. And I’m sure they just want their awesome perfect daughter to be happy in the end.”  
“Yeah,” Cathy said nervously. “So what do you want to do first?”  
“First?” Karma repeated, looking at the theme park in front of him. “I have a feeling that you’d like to go to the roller coasters first and anything like that.”  
“Your feeling’s correct. How shall we do it? Most scary, dangerous ones first or the softer ones later?” she said.  
Karma laughed. “I doubt there’d be any roller coasters that could scare you. Maybe just go through the park and go on the ones that we see.”  
“Well yeah,” Cathy said looking embarrassed at the floor. “Sounds like a plan. Lead the way, Karma,” she said, stretching out her hand to indicate to her boyfriend to take the lead.  
Throughout the whole morning the couple went on all kinds of high speed attractions, having the time of their lives. Now they were looking for something to eat when Cathy noticed something. “Hey Karma, check this out,” she said pointing towards a stand and pulling her boyfriend to it.  
“That stand doesn’t seem to be selling food, Cathy.”  
“I know, dear. But look,” she said, letting go of her boyfriend’s arm and picking something up with a broad smile, “cat ears.” She was currently holding a pair of black cat ears to put in hair with a pink bow in the middle.  
“I can see that,” Karma said with a smile, wondering why his girlfriend was so excited about the cat ears. “Why’re you so excited about them?”  
“Because they’d look cute on you.”  
“You can’t be serious,” Karma said, slightly annoyed.  
“But it’s true.” Cathy pouted. “Also, since they’re black they kinda look like devil’s horns which would perfectly fit you.”  
“Maybe. But then you also have to wear a pair.”  
“Me? Well, I don’t know. Are you sure they’d look good on me?”  
“Asks the girl who’s trying to force a boy to wear such a girly thing.”  
“Ok,” Cathy said happily. “We’ll have two of these please,” she said to the salesperson. “And since it was my idea to buy these, I’ll pay for them,” she said, turning towards Karma.  
“Yeah. Hope you’re happy with them.”  
“Of course. That’s why I decided to buy them.”  
“You’re truly one of a kind,” Karma said, patting her head affectingly.  
“Hey,” she said with a smile as the salesperson gave her the change. She thanked him and they walked a bit further. “So now you’re going let me put it on you right?”  
“’Course,” Karma said, bending slightly so that he was now at the right level for his crowning ceremony.  
Cathy held the ears in her hands and carefully put them on Karma’s head then said, “I now name you Devil King Karma, Ruler of my Heart.”  
“That’s a nice place to rule over,” Karma said, pulling Cathy in closer. “Definitely since I intend on ruling it until the day I die,” he whispered in her ear.  
“Gods, you’re such an idiot,” she said in a high pitched voice while she hid her red face in his chest and batted it slightly.  
“You’re gonna say that a lot, aren’t you?”  
“Well you are one, so I don’t have much of a choice,” she said, looking up at him.  
“Yeah, yeah. Blame me,” Karma said, looking down fondly at his girlfriend.  
Cathy smiled up at Karma. “Well that’s how it’s gonna be, Karma. Don’t you think you can handle it?”  
“I can handle anything you throw at me, sweetheart.”  
“Guess we’ll see, won’t we?” Just then Cathy’s stomach growled from hunger.  
Karma laughed. “I guess we got distracted for a bit too long.”  
“Shut up. Can we find somewhere to eat, please?” Cathy said in a small voice, putting her face in her hands out of embarrassment.  
“Yeah. There’s a place not too far from here,” Karma said, pointing towards the right. “It’s some kind of fast food restaurant.”  
“Sounds good. Fast food is definitely something that I need.”

The pair walked on silently wholly unaware to the fact that they were being followed.  
“Om my god, that’s so cute. How’d they do that? I knew shipping them was a good idea, but damn,” Anjerika said from behind some bushes with a flushed face.  
“Like you said before, they belong together. So obviously they’d look good together,” Rukasu replied. The moment he heard that Anjerika wanted to follow the couple, Rukasu had decided to come along so she wouldn’t be alone.  
“Of course. This is going to be fun,” Anjerika said with a smile.  
“So you’re really planning on following them the whole day? Following your best friend around on her first date is hardly anything to be proud of,” Rukasu said disapprovingly.  
“I know, but I just love watching them being happy together. It’s like whatever problems they had over the past year got erased.”  
“So their happiness is your happiness. Don’t you think that you’re going a bit far with this ship? You could just as well be doing something else at the moment.”  
“Yeah? Like what?” Anjerika asked, turning towards her best friend.  
“Going around the theme park with me and actually going on rides. Meaning not following them around the whole time.”  
“Huh?” Anjerika asked surprised, not expecting this kind of suggestion.  
“What’s not too understand about that?”  
“You want to spend the rest of the day with me at this theme park? Alone? Together?”  
“Yes,” Rukasu said with an exasperated smile.  
Anjerika could feel her heart racing. _Relax. Ok? He isn’t actually asking you out._ “So just two friends hanging out together?”  
“If that’s what you want. Could also be more.”  
“Damn it, Rukasu. What is it? Are you asking me out or not?”  
“Yes. Will you spend the rest of this beautiful day with me as my date, Anjerika?” Rukasu said with a grin.  
_Now I understand why Cathy refers to Karma so much as an idiot,_ Anjerika thought exasperated. “Yes. Just hang on here a sec,” she said as she walked off and took her phone out of her handbag.

Karma and Cathy had just chosen their meals and were about to sit down when Cathy’s phone went off. “Who could be calling me at this time?” Cathy wondered aloud.  
“Yeah. Whoever it is should know that you owe me your undivided attention.”  
Cathy gave Karma an entertained look, put down her tray on the table and picked up the phone. “I’ll be back soon.”  
“I’ll keep you to that,” he said as he watched her walk away. _There are lots of people here. Should I follow her to make sure she’s safe? But then we might lose our table. Can still see her, so this should be enough._  
“Hello.”  
“Hello. Cathy it’s me Anjerika,” Anjerika said hurriedly.  
“Yeah, I saw your name on the caller ID. What’s up?”  
“The thing is; Rukasu kinda just asked me out.”  
“He what?” Cathy exclaimed with a smile. “Congratulations. When is it?”  
“Now. I followed you guys as usual and he came along and just asked me.”  
_Typical._ “Why are you then calling me then and not hanging out with him?”  
“’Cause I’m scared. What if I do something to screw it up? I’m just wearing really casual clothes. What if he thinks I’m not pretty enough? I’m scared.”  
“Anjerika, calm down, please. I’m sure he thinks that you’re pretty and great. Otherwise he wouldn’t have asked you out. He went along with all your strange plans of stalking me and Karma and still likes you. You’ll be fine,” Cathy said reassuringly.  
“Thanks. Silly me. Honestly it’s so stupid. I wait for him to ask me out for so long and when he finally does, I freak out. Thanks, Cathy. Enjoy the rest of your date.”  
“Yeah. Thanks, see you later. And I’ll also want to hear any interesting details of your date.”  
Anjerika chuckled nervously. “Course. We’ll have loads of fun talking about awesome guys.”  
“Yeah. Bye, Anjerika.”  
“Bye.”

Karma saw Cathy nearing the table and asked, “So, what’s up?”  
Cathy sat down again and said with an amused sigh, “Anjerika decided to follow me, as usual, and Rukasu tagged along. The thing is...he asked her out on a date. Which kinda freaked her out a bit.”  
“Ah, so today can be seen as the day of dates.”  
“Yeah.” Cathy started eating.  
“Wait a sec,” Karma said.  
“You want my tum to growl forever?” Cathy asked, looking up from her food questionably.  
Karma chuckled. “No. But we haven’t had your crowning ceremony yet. It seems kinda unfair, don’t you think?”  
“Can have it afterwards. Food first, then that. That way I can admire your ears without having to wear mine yet,” Cathy said, pointing a chip at her boyfriend.  
“Truly a demoness,” Karma said with a smile.  
“I try,” Cathy said with a smile.  
“So how’d you think it will go?” Karma asked after a short pause.  
“You seriously want us to talk about my best friends?”  
“Well they were following us and probably talking ’bout us, so it only seems right,” Karma said with a mischievous smile.  
Cathy chuckled. “Yeah. Fine. I think it’ll go good. They’ve been best friends for longer than us, so they know each other better and since Rukasu was always with her on her stalking parties, it seems like he cares deeply about her interests.”  
“Freakish interest in us you mean.”  
“Yes. But hopefully that will stop now that she has a guy of her own.”  
“Yeah.” Karma leant back on his chair. “It’s just weird...”  
“What is?”  
“I didn’t know them that well, but from an outsiders perspective it seems like he’s liked her for longer than she realises. She freaked out when he asked her out, probably ’cause she started realising her own feelings recently as well, but I could see in the beginning he was always the silent type when it came down to their relationship or liking anyone really.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah. Think of it this way, if you had feelings for an overenthusiastic girl like Anjerika, would you tell her straight away? ’Cause that could ruin their friendship.”  
“Maybe, but on Valentine’s Day he just kindly accepted the chocolates like they were nothing. Why would he do something like that? You didn’t act like that,” Cathy said with a crafty smile.  
“Ah yes. The time I gave you chocolates in exchange for yours. It’d be quite a character change if he had done that.”  
“Yes. So they’ll be fine. And why’re you acting like that’s some great memory? It was ridiculous.”  
“’Cause it was.” Karma let his chair fall back into place and leaned towards her. “You were so cute blushing like that.”  
Cathy looked down. “Yeah. Sure.”  
“What’s wrong?” Karma asked worried he’d upset his girlfriend somehow.  
“You keep saying how cute I am when I’m blushing, it’s just I wonder if I’m cute the way I am and not ’cause of the fact that I blush.”  
“Well you’re not cute.”  
“Huh?” Cathy said confused, looking up at Karma.  
“You’re beautiful. You just get cute when you’re embarrassed,” Karma replied with a smile.  
“Oh,” Cathy said relieved. “So you think I’m beautiful?”  
“Every part of your demonic body,” Karma said, leaning closer and taking a strand of her hair to play with.  
Cathy could feel her heart trying to escape her chest. _Calm, Cathy. Him being close is no big deal. The fact that he just called everything about you beautiful is. Has he even looked in the mirror? That’s what true beauty is._ “Thank you,” Cathy said in a small voice. “You’re more beautiful though.”  
Karma grinned broadly at Cathy. “Now where’d you get that idea from?”  
“It’s a fact, Karma. You look beautiful. Most girls in our old school probably also noticed that. The only thing that kept them away from you was your...demonic behaviour.”  
“So my great personality scared everyone away,” Karma mused. “Apart from you.”  
“Yeah, well. I wasn’t really smart in that point. I fell into the great trap called Karma Akabane.” She smiled playfully. “Of course I have no intention of getting out.”  
“Good. ’Cause I wouldn’t let you.” _Maybe,_ Karma thought, studying her face. He saw that she wanted to as well and went in for a kiss. “This really is great,” he said with a grin centimetres from her lips.  
“Yes. Apart from the fact that you just kissed me over the table.” Cathy chuckled and pushed her boyfriend lightly back into his seat. “Also, maybe next time not such in such a public space.”  
“Why?”  
“People are looking at us,” Cathy said, looking down embarrassed.  
“Crap. Sorry. Got caught up in the moment. Are you almost finished? Then we can leave.”  
“Yeah. Just let me finish my drink.” After lunch Cathy had her crowning ceremony and the couple continued their adventure through the theme park.

“Gods, it’s getting hot out here,” Cathy said exhausted.  
“Yeah well. It’s good for a day like this.”  
“Apart from the fact that I hate hot weather. Can we buy something to drink?”  
“Sure.” Karma paused and surveyed his girlfriend. “You want a ride?”  
“What?” Cathy said, close to a shriek.  
“You want me to carry you? You look like the heat’s taken a lot out of you.”  
“Well...yeah...but...um. Are you okay with that?”  
“Probably don’t weigh that much.”  
“Making claims about a woman’s weight is a dangerous path to walk on, you know, Karma.”  
“Yeah well. I like to live dangerously. So are you gonna hop on?” he asked, bending down.  
“Yeah.” _Gods, this is so embarrassing. At least he’s strong, so it should be all right._ She moved close enough to Karma and put her arms around his neck. Once he was sure that Cathy was seated properly, Karma stood up with ease and said, “See. Fine.”  
“Yeah.” Cathy looked around. “So this is what it’s like to be a tall person.”  
“Just don’t get to used to it,” he said, looking back at her. “Then again, having you at the same height as me is nice, you shrimp.”  
“Gods,” she said with an incredulous smile.  
Soon afterwards they found a water vendor near a water fountain. “Wanna sit by the fountain while I buy something?”  
“Yeah. Sure,” she said as her boyfriend put her down.  
Cathy walked over to the fountain with a smile plastered on her face and sat on the edge. She noticed a young girl walking around it and smiled admirably at her. Oh, what it would be like to be young again. She looked around. Technically there was nothing stopping her but the social standards. She stood up on the edge and started walking, realising that it was more difficult than first appeared. Maybe it was because of her bigger body. Suddenly she felt too hands against her and then cold, freezing cold water envelop her. She looked up and could see a group of guys laughing at her. Not a second later, the culprit for her water dive received a punch to his face and it didn’t look like the attacker was planning on stopping anytime soon. _He truly is willing to go through all lengths to protect me._ She stood up and said softly, “Karma.” Then louder, “Karma.”  
He straightened up and looked over at her, lifting the culprit up with him. A red tinge entered his cheeks. Then he threw the wrongdoer to the ground and stood on him – Karma was clearly not done with him yet. He took off his jacket and handed it to her while avoiding looking at her. “Cover up. The water’s made your clothes see-through.”  
Cathy’s eyes widened in shock as she quickly accepted his jacket and put it on and closed it. Karma looked down at his target and lifted him up again. “Now, what shall we do with you?” he said in a menacing voice. “That vendor also sells soft drinks and I’ve always wondered what would happen if that went up someone’s nose. More or less painful than hot sauces? Of course,” he lifted up his back pack, “I have plenty of sauces here. ’Cause doing anything to her is equal to mortuary, not just the hospital.”  
Cathy could feel the embarrassment and shock creeping up in her as she said, “Karma, we are still in a public place. You can’t do that here.”  
“Somewhere else, then,” he said, like he was going to have the time of his life.  
Just then a whistle blew and park officials came running towards them.  
“Crap,” Cathy and Karma said in union.  
They were told to follow the officials so they all could be interrogated and the man tended to. There while Cathy was given new clothes, Karma calmly explained what had happened from his perspective. In his eyes he had done nothing wrong. He had stood up for his girlfriend, what any guy would do for the person they liked. He hadn’t said loved, since he hadn’t told her yet and there was no way in hell he’d tell anyone but her first. Once the conversation was over, he was reunited with her and they were allowed to leave. While they were waiting for a taxi to take them back home, Cathy sneezed.  
A look of horror crossed Karma’s face as he balled his fists.  
Cathy noticed and tried to calm him down. “Don’t worry. Could literally be anything and my colds aren’t even that bad. Not saying that I’m getting one...sometimes I just sneeze when my nose is itchy.”  
“I guess we’ll see then,” Karma said in a deadly calm manner.  
“Sorry,” Cathy said, looking away.  
“You don’t have to apologise. I should’ve been paying better attention.”  
She gave him a small smile and said, “Maybe. But I can’t always count on you to protect me, Karma. I mean I love it, don’t get me wrong. It’s absolutely great that you’re willing to beat the living crap out of anyone who dares threaten me. But one day...when we go into higher education, you know university, we probably won’t go to the same one and then I definitely can’t rely on you. I don’t want you to come all the way to god knows where to protect me. I mean, sometimes visiting would be nice, but ...um... you know what I mean.”  
“Yeah. Guess I can’t really see the harm in training you. But you have to remember, don’t go picking fights like I do. My body is built for fighting, yours isn’t.”  
_Yeah. That he most definitely saw,_ she thought as she started reddening.  
“Cathy?”  
“Yes,” she squawked.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing. I mean...you saw...”  
Karma started reddening as the taxi pulled in. They entered it and it started driving towards Cathy’s apartment complex. As they continued to drive through the cities, Karma thought of something he could say – each sentence making him more and more embarrassed. Finally he managed to think of something. He knew it probably still wasn’t the best thing to say, but in the end it was still a compliment. That’s at least what he hoped. “Cathy...,” he started.  
“Yeah.”  
“I may have...seen all that...but it still doesn’t change the fact that I think you’re beautiful.”  
“Thanks.” She held onto his hand. “For everything.”


	22. Disclosure

After kissing each other goodbye, multiple times, Karma went back home and left Cathy feeling like she was on cloud nine. The moment she entered her apartment, she let herself fall to the floor and started giggling like crazy.  
“Ah, there she is. The blushing girlfriend,” Alex said, coming out of the kitchen. “Wait, why is your hair wet? Where are the clothes that you wore? Isn’t that Karma’s jacket?” The last question was asked with so much excitement that Cathy feared her guardian might explode.  
“Yeah. I should give it back to him when I see him again,” she said.  
“Oh, no, no, no, no. You are keeping it. Believe me girl; if he let it keep it now, he has no need for it in the imminent future.”  
“But Alex, he might need it at some point and just gave it to me to keep me warm,” she protested.  
Alex looked at Cathy with a knowing smile. “There really is so much you still need to learn.”  
“Then let me learn it by myself! In my own way! I don’t need you and Anjerika pestering me about every single little thing concerning us! We look good together. Fine, I get it. I mean who wouldn’t look good next to that beautiful creature? But that doesn’t mean that either of you get to hound me about it the whole time.”  
She started walking towards the bathroom. “I’m going to take a shower and then to bed. Bye.” After taking her shirt off, she looked at her right arm and noticed that a bruise had formed on it. _It’s become worse since those officers gave me those clothes._  
She touched it and could feel pain going through it. _It should be fine. Nothing’s bleeding, right?_ She turned around so the wound could also be seen in the mirror. _Good. Should be fine after a while. Just make sure Karma doesn’t find out._ She bit her lip uncertainly. _That wouldn’t be good. Can’t keep secrets from him. But it’s just a bruise. What he did to that guy was much worse._  
She sat down and leant against the wall. _No good. I’ll tell him eventually. First, need advice on how._ She took out her phone and scrolled through her contact list. She picked out the person she thought would be the most helpful in this kind of situation and rang them up.  
“Hello?” the voice answered.  
“Hi, Rukasu. It’s me. Is it all right if we talk? Um...if Anjerika’s not there.”  
Rukasu smiled. “So she told you, huh? Guess that makes sense. You’re the only person she’d so hurriedly call. But why can’t she be here?”  
“’Cause I need help from a person who can stay calm no matter what I tell them.”  
“Ah yes. That does make sense. So, what’s wrong?”  
Cathy sighed. “There was an incident at the theme park and I fell into the fountain.”  
“Oh, that doesn’t sound good.”  
“Got that right. Totally soaked and everything. Thing is, I also got a bruise to remember it by. I just-I just don’t know how to tell Karma about it without him freaking out.”  
“And you expect me to be able to help you?”  
“Well you are a guy. If something like that happened to Anjerika, how would you like to find out?”  
“By telling me carefully and truthfully. Does it hurt?”  
“No, not really. Think I have a higher pain tolerance than most girls anyway. It’s just big. Not that I mind. Having a scar is kinda cool.” She said the last parts with a smile.  
“And what about if Karma had a scar?”  
“Oh gods, having a scar on Karma’s beautiful body is unimaginable. Or maybe not.”  
“It is beautiful,” Rukasu agreed.  
“What?”  
“What?”  
“You just agreed with me concerning Karma’s body.”  
“Yes.”  
“Um...guys don’t usually do that.”  
“I’m just agreeing with you, Cathy. Don’t worry. I’m not going to try to steal your boyfriend.”  
The moment Rukasu had agreed with her, the cogs in her head had started turning and then suddenly everything fell into place. “You’re bi.”  
“Yes,” Rukasu said in a small voice.  
“Does Anjerika know?”  
“She might have her suspicions.”  
“But you haven’t told her.”  
“No. I don’t even know why. Japan has nothing against it, even if not everyone accepts it.”  
“Are you maybe afraid of what she’ll say?”  
“No. I think she’ll be all right with it. She’s just giving me time.”  
“That’s good. Small question: when you were spying on me and Karma, who’d you look at the most?”  
“It was difficult, both equal I think. Karma maybe slightly more.”  
“Fair enough,” she said in an upbeat manner. “Also, Valentine’s chocolates.”  
“Discovering who I’m attracted to is a recent thing, so I just didn’t know yet. Whether I liked Anjerika in that kind of way.”  
“Guess that makes sense. But now you do?”  
“Think so.”  
A beep sounded and Cathy saw that Anjerika had texted her for details. “I should go. Bye. And good luck with Anjerika.”  
“Bye. And you good luck with Karma.”  
They hung up and Cathy decided to wait to tell her best friend about the details. She undressed and went into the shower, making her bruise sting.  
She sighed. One part of her still didn’t want to tell Karma about it, but in the end it came down to her keeping something from him. He had told her about this Korosensei teacher before they had started dating, even if it was just a little bit. So of course she could tell him about this. Telling him the fact wasn’t the difficult part, but not pissing him off was. What could she do? She sighed again. If she made him mad, so be it. She’d figure something out in the end.  
After her shower she dried her hair, got changed into her pyjamas and raided the fridge for something easy to eat and disappeared into her bedroom. While eating she went through her phone contacts, selected Karma’s number and called him. The phone rang for a few tones and he picked up, “Hey,” he said with a smile. “To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?”  
“Is it really such a crime for a girl wanting to call her boyfriend? And I just like hearing your voice.”  
Karma chuckled. “Yeah, my voice is pretty great.”  
“Don’t agree with me, you idiot,” Cathy said with an exasperated smile. “How are you?”  
“Great. I just had a wonderful date with an amazing girl and we had so much fun together. There was a small incident, but I handled it with no problem.”  
“If you call that handling it with no problems, then I am curious about these problems of yours.”  
“Have never occurred, let’s hope they won’t. So how are you?”  
“Ah, let’s see. Just like you I had an absolutely amazing date with this beautiful idiotic boy, truly great once you get to know him. Honestly amazing. He saved me from this incident and took down the perpetrator without breaking a sweat. Went a little crazy, but it’s to be expected. Unfortunately...something else did happen that I don’t really want to tell the guy about, but know I should.”  
“What?”  
“I got a bruise. It’s insignificant, really. Just a little bit on my arm. But you know, I thought I should tell you.”  
Karma was silent and then there was a sound that sounded like something had snapped.  
“Karma?”  
“I’m fine,” he said dangerously. “Just fine. He’s in the hospital already and sending him to the morgue would be bad. I’ll let it be. Thank you for telling me.”  
“Yeah. Nothing.”  
“Does it hurt?”  
“Not really. It’s just a patch of coloured skin in the end that doesn’t feel normal. But I wouldn’t say it really hurts.”  
“My girlfriend really is amazing,” Karma praised.  
Cathy smiled silently. It really did feel like she was transcending the worlds.  
“Cathy?”  
“Yeah,” she said distracted.  
Karma smiled. “’Night, Cathy.”  
“’Night, dear.”  
Cathy finished her meal and went to bed.  
On the other side of town, Karma had broken his pencil and was now cleaning it up while silently plotting. Not against his current target, but any future ones. He needed to be better prepared if he wanted to keep her safe. But how? What could he do? Stock up on hot sauces? Train more? Who knew. But one thing he did know for sure was that he would be prepared next time they faced an adversary.


	23. “No joke”

The time that followed was both wonderful and exhausting for Cathy. The former was obvious; she was dating the boy she loved. The latter on the other hand was a bit more complicated. It came down to those three little words. He said them to her whenever he got the chance now, but would act all jokingly about them later, pretending that he hadn’t just confessed. She understood why, him confessing properly would go against his nature.  
Now they were setting up his game console. _I’ll tell him when we’re finished._  
“Somethin’ on your mind?” Karma asked, looking at her curiously.  
She grinned at him. “Yeah. Trying to figure out which underhanded tricks you’re gonna use this time around.”  
“What are you talking about?” he asked feigning innocence.  
“Oh, you know perfectly well what I’m talking about, Karma. And I’ll catch you this time around.”  
He chuckled. “Good luck with that, sweetheart.”  
She picked up her controller and said while chuckling, “You are so going to hell.”  
“Probably, yeah. But I’d presume someone who’s referred to as the demoness will also end up there.”  
“At least we know where we going once we die then.”  
“Yeah.” He looked at her fondly. _Don’t die._  
“Okay. Now it’s time to prove that you’re a cheat,” she said, readied in the right position.  
“You’re gonna lose both that way,” Karma said, ready as well.  
Just like Cathy had predicted, he won. Though this time she hadn’t been able to see him use any kind of tricks. _It’s always possible he won fairly._ She smiled at him. _He is great in a lot of things after all._ “Hey, Karma,” she said in a soft voice.  
His smile seemed to grow. “Yes?” He turned towards her.  
“I love you.”  
He had seen it coming, of course he had like with everything else. But for some reason it still made him blush and wonder whether she actually meant it. “No joke?” he asked, hoping that she wasn’t copying him out of spite or something.  
Her smile broadened as she shook her head. “No joke. I actually love you, Karma.”  
He grinned, hugged her and said in her ear, “I love you too, dear. Sorry it took me so long to say it like this.”  
She chuckled. “It’s fine. I understand. I’d expect nothing less from a world class slacker.”  
He removed his head from her shoulder and was smiling at her demonically. “What did you just say?”  
She held her hand to her heart. “What, did I offend the great demon?” she asked feigning innocence as well.  
“You’re gonna pay.”  
She removed herself from his embrace and started walking away. “You’re gonna hafta catch me first.”  
It didn’t take long however until she was back in his arms, now centimetres from the ground. “Caught you. Now what kind of punishment shall I give you now, dear?”  
She looked at him affectionately. “I dunno. You’re gonna have to pick one for me, honey,” she said softly.  
A bright blush crossed his cheeks before he put her down again. “Dammit. I never knew you’d be such an adversary.”  
She was laughing while holding onto her stomach. “What’d you expect? I’ve spent the past three years learning how to deal with almost all of your moves.”  
“And you’re gonna pay for that,” he said, straightening up again.  
“Really? How?” she asked challengingly.  
“You’ll see, sweetheart, you’ll see,” he said before he tackled her to the ground and started tickling her.


	24. The voice I want to hear

Life really was good for Cathy, now definitely since she was dating the boy she loved. Even more so since she had confessed to him and he had said he returned the feelings.  
At the moment she was sleeping soundly in her bed with a content smile when her phone suddenly went off. She scrunched up her face in annoyance before picking up the phone and looking at who would be stupid enough to call her. Her facial features softened at the sight of her boyfriend’s name.  
She swiped the green phone symbol to the middle and held the phone to her ear. “Karma,” she said tenderly.  
Something resembling a relieved sigh came through the phone. “Hi,” was all he said.  
She held her knees up against her. “Karma, what’s wrong?”  
“Does something have to be wrong for me to call you?” he asked in a forced playful way.  
“Not during the day, no. But it’s the middle of the night.” She checked her phone for the exact time; 02:15 it read. “Did something happen?”  
“Nah. Just wanted to hear your voice.” He was becoming calmer at the sound of her voice. It was after all a voice he loved hearing.  
A small smile appeared on her lips. “Any specific reason?”  
“Not really.” He was silent for a bit, then said in a small voice, “I’m scared that something’s gonna happen to you or that you’ll leave me.”  
She was so confused by the statement, that only a surprised, “What?” managed to escape her mouth.  
He let out a broken chuckle. “Yeah. Unbelievable, ey. I know, sweetheart. But I know it’s unlikely, just can’t be helped.”  
“Anything I can do to lessen this fear?” she asked in a small voice.  
He was silent for a bit. “Don’t think so.”  
She let out a sad sigh. “Karma, I said that I love you and I mean it, okay? I don’t intend on going anywhere or gods forbid leave you. I spent three years slowly but surely falling in love with you and I don’t intend on wasting that. Most of all, I would never want to hurt you.” She let out another sigh. “I’m sorry, this is probably totally lame. Just know that I love you and don’t intend on going anywhere.”  
No response.  
“Karma?” she asked worriedly.  
“I love you,” he said barely louder than a whisper.  
She put her face in her knees and screamed. He could have gone without making it sound more heartbreaking for crying out loud. She inhaled deeply and said back in her normal voice, “I love you too, Karma. So don’t worry. I’ll come over later.”  
“Ok.” Even though he knew the end of the phone call was near, he didn’t want to hang up any time soon. Somehow just hearing her breathing on the other end was nice. He wanted to ask, but he also didn’t. Most of all, it wasn’t a side of him that he usually showed.  
It didn’t matter. She was his girlfriend and knew him like no other. So surely … maybe … Karma let out an irritated sigh. “Can I ask you something, Cathy?”  
“Beside that?” she asked semi-playful. She got annoyed at herself not a second later.  
He still let out a small chuckle. “Yeah. When this is over, can you put the phone next to you?” He was silent and could feel his already reddened cheeks becoming even redder. “So I know you’re still there.”  
Cathy hardly ever thought about what powers she would want if she were a superhero or something like that, but teleportation really was taking the top spot. She wanted to go over to him and hug him now, say that she was there for him and that it was alright or at the very least it would be. “Yeah, sure,” she said in a small voice.  
“Thank you.”  
“Of course, Karma. Want to go to sleep now?”  
“I’ll try. ’Night, sweetheart, I love you.”  
“Goodnight, Karma. I love you too.” So she did as requested and placed her phone right next to her pillow, so any sound she made could be heard through it.  
As she slowly but surely swept back into dreamland, she truly wondered what had possessed his parents to leave him the way they had.


	25. New term

The next school year began and much to Cathy and Karma’s disappointment, they weren’t in the same class. Even though it was still Kunugigaoka, the classes weren’t divided from best to worst points. You just ended up in a class that the teacher had decided to give you.  
Once the ceremony was over, the classes went their separate ways. Cathy looked back at Karma as he walked away, while he bit his thumb nail in thought and glancing at her.  
Once in class, the teacher started explaining what the students should expect for the coming year. This all bored Karma to no end, so he just continued with his thought process. After the teacher had finished his explanation, he said that they were allowed to have a break and then the actual school year would begin.  
_How should I do this? I told her that I could train her, but our bodies are so different that she needs someone of about the same build. Of course the person has to be patient as well. And not a pain._ He let out a sigh.  
“Hi there, spacey head,” a girl said from beside him. Even though she had just called him by a nickname, the way she held herself was nothing short of elegant.  
He looked over to see a blonde girl with her hair up in a ponytail. He smiled slightly. “Hi.”  
“What were you thinking about? You didn’t pay attention to anything the teacher was saying.”  
He lent back in his chair. “Didn’t listen, ’cause not important.” He paused. “And I was thinking of how to find someone to teach my girlfriend self defence.”  
The look in the girls eyes wavered for a second, but seconds later she was back to her cheery self. “I could teach her if you want.”  
He smiled at her while resting his head on his hand. She didn’t know this guy yet, but something about the smile and his eyes sent chills down her spine. That along with making her want to bury her head in the sand. This guy really was handsome, no denying that. She wondered whether this girlfriend on his was some kind of conquest or a serious thing. She chided herself. She couldn’t just judge people by the way they looked. “Um...so if you’re wondering, my name’s Yuki Yamamoto.” She bowed down. “It’s a pleasure meeting you.”  
Karma let out a soft chuckle. “No need to be so formal.” He still got up and bowed slightly. “I’m Karma, by the way. Karma Akabane.”  
He waited for her to respond in some kind of shocked way. But all he got was nothing. Not even on her brown-eyed face. _She doesn’t look like the kind of girl who would hang out with delinquents. But the students of the main building who came here also know about me._ He stopped himself from smiling to himself. The look of almost pure horror on those students faces of seeing him really had been as great as expected. And it had cause Cathy to giggle, which was a double win in his book. “So are you new to the Kunugigaoka school, Yamamoto?”  
“Yes. You can call me Yuki if you want, though. My parents moved to near here a few months ago, so I had to take the bus to my old school. After that they decided to find a school nearby and we ended up here.”  
“Ok, Yuki. Does that mean that your points are good?”  
Yuki nodded. “Yes. I even got full marks for a few subjects. Unfortunately others weren’t so good.”  
“What others?”  
“Math, Japanese and Science,” she said in a small voice while looking at the ground.  
“Huh. Guess Maths isn’t for everyone then. Don’t worry about Japanese; it’s my least favourite subject. And I know Science can sometimes be a pain, so don’t worry about it.”  
She smiled up at him. Maybe the look in his eyes had just been a figment of her imagination. “Thank you. What about you?”  
He leant back in his chair. “Got a perfect score for the end of term exams.”  
Instead of responding, her mouth fell open.  
He side-eyed her. “You okay?”  
“A perfect score. Like not one single mistake? 500 out of 500. How is that even possible?” she said surprised.  
“By studying a lot,” he said simply.  
“Yeah. But still...that’s amazing.”  
“Thank you.”  
Just then the teacher came back in, telling them it was now time for the real lessons to begin. During this time, Yuki kept glancing at Karma; the strange boy she had just met.

The bell rang, indicating that the students were allowed out to get books for their coming subjects or rest for a bit. Karma stood up within seconds of hearing the bell and started walking towards his girlfriend’s classroom. Yuki soon enough was beside him.  
“Are you going to see her now?”  
“Yeah. And introduce you if you don’t mind.”  
“Of course not. I did say I was willing to train her.” _I wonder what she’s like._  
They neared her classroom and saw a girl waving at the pair. No, she wasn’t waving at both of them. Just Karma. And she had a grin on her face which stretched from eye to eye. In return the look in Karma’s eyes softened to loving. Yuki looked between the pair. _That’s his girlfriend?_  
Before she could think any further on the issue, the girl neared them.  
“I see you’ve managed to escape your own classroom a bit early, Karma. Already skipping classes?”  
He chuckled. “Of course not. The bell rang to indicate the end of the lesson. So obviously the teacher would stop teaching.”  
She gave him an incredulous smile and shook her head slightly. “And what if he hadn’t finished his sentence yet?”  
“Then he should’ve calculated it into his planning for this lesson.”  
Her voice softened. “Time constraints always happen, Karma. People can’t help it. You’re getting closer to university, so you really should try to be a good student. Okay?”  
He lightly stoked her head. “Yes, ma’am.”  
The blush that formed on her cheeks was almost as red as her conversation partner’s hair. She looked at the floor and saw someone else standing behind him. She looked at the person and said with a kind smile, “Hi. Sorry that I didn’t notice you earlier.” She took a step further from Karma so she could bow. “I’m Cathy Pravina.” She pointed at Karma. “And if you hadn’t noticed yet, this idiot’s my boyfriend.”  
“Really? Now who got a perfect score?” he asked in a challenging tone.  
She looked at him while conveying the message she had just said with her eyes. “In other aspects.” She turned back to Yuki. “Sorry ’bout that.”  
“Oh no. It’s alright. I understand.” _So he is serious with this girl._ She bowed. “I’m Yuki Yamamoto. Pleased to meet you.”  
For a few seconds Cathy smiled at her with a kind smile. “So you decided to befriend Karma?”  
Yuki shook her head. “Not entirely. He said that he needed someone to teach you self defence and I know a thing or two about it. So I suggested that I could teach you.”  
Cathy looked from Karma, whose eyes were still glued on her, to Yuki. Karma had said something about training her on the ride back from their first date, but after that it had never been mentioned again. She thought he had forgotten about it and had just dismissed the thought herself. _Has he really been thinking about it for that long?_ “Thank you. It would be my pleasure.” She bit the inside of her lip uncomfortably. “But I don’t have anywhere where we could train.”  
Yuki smiled at her. “Don’t worry about it, Cathy. You two can come to my place.” She took out a piece of paper and wrote something on it. “This is my phone number. I’ll tell my chauffeur and parents that I’m having people over.” Then she walked off while taking out her phone.  
The couple looked at each other in bewilderment. “She said chauffeur right?” Cathy asked  
“Yeah. Guess she’s rich.”  
“Yeah.”  
His mouth formed into an open-mouthed grin. “Wonder what it looks like.”  
She chuckled in disbelief. “Try not to prank our new friend too hard, ok? She’s still my training partner.”  
“Course not, dear. I’ll behave,” he said with a smile. Though the look in his eyes still said that he was considering a small prank.  
“Gods.” Cathy held her hand to her head in exhaustion. “You really are such an idiot.”

After school, they were escorted in a big car. They arrived at the house and Cathy and Karma’s jaws almost fell to the ground.  
“It’s so big,” Cathy said in wonder.  
“Yeah.” He looked slightly annoyed.  
She studied him as he started biting his thumb. “You okay?”  
“Yeah. Just haven’t come up with anything good yet.”  
She laughed. “Oh, my poor, poor Karma. Guess that great brain of yours can’t always come up with something.”  
He gave her an annoyed look, with a slight smile on his face. “Shut up.”  
“Or what?”  
“I’ll have to punish you.”  
Her eyebrows rose. “In what way?”  
He studied her. “No anime for a week.”  
“What? No. You can’t do that.”  
He chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I can if I tell Alex about it.”  
“But Karma...”  
“Or you could apologise.”  
She gave him an irritated smile. “You’re going to hell.” Then she thought for a while. “See how you behave and then I’ll consider it,” she said as she entered the house.  
“Are you sure? A week is seven days. That’s 168 hours or 10,080 minutes, in other words 604,800 seconds.”  
She gave him an incredulous look and turned away. “Using your maths skills like that won’t change a thing. I’ll apologise when I feel like it.”  
“Awww,” he said in his Southern accent. “That’s a real shame.”  
A blush grew on her cheeks as she looked at him flustered. “Don’t use that voice against me, you idiot.”  
A grin grew on his lips. “And why not?”  
“You know why not.”  
“C’mon, sweetheart. I thought you liked this accent.”  
“Yeah. I do. That’s why.” They had reached the training hall and Cathy stopped. Karma stopped next to her and looked at her confused. Then she pulled him by his collar and kissed him. “It’s just one of those stupid things that makes me love you even more. I’m sorry,” she said and turned around and followed Yuki into the training area.  
He stood there for a second flustered but soon enough got a hold of himself and followed her into the room. There he watched as she trained and trained, becoming stronger. Until she finally couldn’t take any more and fell on her back, panting. He handed her a bottle of water with a smile.  
“You did great, sweetheart. But I think today’s enough. We’ll come back some other day for more.” He looked at Yuki for confirmation who nodded in response.


	26. Meet the parents

Months later Karma got a video call from his parents telling him they would be coming back to Japan for a short while to give him some souvenirs from their trips and see their son again. He also informed them that he had recently, no need for them to know how recent exactly, had gotten a girlfriend. As expected, they were delighted and wanted to meet her as soon as possible.  
When Karma told Cathy about the news, however, she seemed terrified. No matter what the circumstances were, it was always advised to impress your partner’s parents, but that gnawing feeling of them leaving their teenage son to fend for himself kept at it. At least she had a guardian. He had no one. Not like he especially needed it. He did fine after all. But it was still so irresponsible.  
Cathy told Anjerika about the meeting and as Cathy had predicted, her friend was really excited. After a small while she calmed down and went on her search for appropriate clothes. “Have you actually told _your_ parents about Karma?”  
“Not yet. I don’t know when or how,” Cathy responded shamefully.  
“What’s the big deal? Your grades are great. There’s no reason they could give you against dating him.”  
“Yeah. But some are still not as good as they should be even if I study days for it. They’d end up blaming it on him. I also...told them about him when we first became friends.”  
“Really? That’s the first I’ve heard about it.”  
“’Cause I’ve never had any reason to tell you,” she said dryly. “I was really excited and they seemed impressed until I told them what he was like.”  
“Always best to avoid that subject.”  
“I know. But I was so young. Parents usually want their children to make friends, but when the friends don’t live up to their standards, they have to go.”  
“Yeah. Tell me about it,” Anjerika said dejected, letting herself fall on Cathy’s bed beside her.  
“Something wrong with Rukasu?”  
“No. Rukasu’s fine. My parents on the other hand don’t get his sexuality. They’re all like ‘He’s dating a girl, so he must be straight, right?’ No. That’s not how it works. The older generation really do need to understand what’s happening around them. People like Rukasu are getting more respect, but still not enough. And I’m scared that they never will. They’re just people like you and me but happen to be attracted to the same gender as well, or only. Why can’t people see that?”  
Cathy pulled her friend into a hug. “’Cause the world’s full of dumbasses. I just hope my boyfriend’s parents aren’t.”  
“I guess we’ll see. I saw a really nice dress that you could wear.”  
“I’ll check it out later then.”

A few days later there was a knock on the apartment door. Cathy opened it with a smile, and considering Alex had been told before she decided to stay away. She looked up at her boyfriend and noticed that he was wearing an actual suit and a red tie to match his hair. She nervously bit on her lip. _Gods, he looks good,_ she couldn’t help but think. “Hi,” she said in a slightly higher voice.  
“Hi,” he said, looking down at her lovingly as she nervously looked down.  
“You...you look good.”  
“Really?” he asked, checking out his attire. “It’s not that different from what I used to wear at school.”  
She gave him a half smile. “Does that really change the fact of whether you look good or not?”  
“Guess not.” He kissed her cheek in greeting. “Also, you look great.”  
“Thank the gods for that. Anjerika hardly gave me space to breathe with the dresses.”  
He chuckled. “She truly is something.”  
“That she is.” Cathy looked behind Karma. “So, where are they?”  
“We’re meeting them at the restaurant.”  
“Ah great. More time for the nerves to grow.”  
“Or me to calm you down,” he said softly.  
“Yeah. Or that,” she said in an elevated tone.  
He took her hand and led her outside the apartment before he closed the doors. “What are you actually so nervous about?”  
“Well...you know. I should impress them, right? What if I say the wrong thing? Or do something stupid? Or...oh gods, there are so many things that could go wrong,” she said, rubbing her head nervously with her free hand.  
“Probably about the same ’mount of things that can go right. So relax. It’ll be fine.”  
“Hopefully,” she said in a small voice while looking at the floor. She looked up at him. “But what are they actually like? You know, apart from son-deserters?”  
“Quite chill actually. And nice. They should be fine.”  
“That sounds good.”

The couple reached the restaurant and Cathy’s eyes boggled at the sight of it – it was much fancier than any restaurant she had ever been to. Her grip tightened on her boyfriend’s hand. _I can do this,_ she thought as she looked up at him. _For him I will do this._  
They entered the restaurant and Cathy managed to find Karma’s parents immediately, the father had red hair just like his son. Not only that, but Cathy could truly see the money they spent on the way they dressed, making both of them look like beautiful celebrities. _Now I see where he gets his looks from._  
Then there was a hand on her head, softly stroking it. “Relax, Cathy. I’ll be with you throughout it all,” Karma said in a soft voice.  
“Thank you.”  
Now they were at the table. She went to stand opposite them and bowed politely. “I’m Cathy Pravina. Pleased to meet you.”  
The parents introduced themselves and everyone sat down. Once the drinks were ordered, the questions began.  
“So, where are you actually from, Cathy? Karma said that your parents live in England. But there’s more to it, isn’t there.”  
“My father’s parents are from India, but he was born in England, my mother is Japanese and moved to England for job related reasons.”  
The man nodded. “So you grew up bilingual?”  
“Yes.” She sighed. “And learning such vastly different languages wasn’t easy.”  
He smiled kindly. “But you managed to do it anyway. A beautiful mind for a beautiful girl.”  
Karma had to hold back on every instinct not to punch his father in his face. _Just a nice comment,_ he told himself. Though the hand that shot to his in response wasn’t exactly a comfort.  
“Dear,” his mother said, noticing the change in her son’s eyes.  
He chuckled. “Sorry. I just can’t help it. I just can’t help but compliment someone of Indian descent. India is a beautiful country after all.”  
“That’s true. But you shouldn’t say something like that. She’s just a girl.”  
He nodded, not at all seeming sorry about any of it. “But you do also go to Kunugigaoka High School, right?”  
“Yes. But I’m in a different class than Karma.” Her voice had gotten smaller. She never knew how to handle compliments, from anyone. Compliments from strangers were weird, from friends uncomfortable and from the boy sitting next to her taming his anger she just felt embarrassed.  
“But that still means that you had good marks on the end of term exams.”  
“Yes. I got 19th place.” She looked towards Karma. “Though of course, that’s nothing compared to Karma who got a perfect score for everything and got first place.” Just for that praise, her voice changed to loving.  
The parents looked at their son proudly and nodded. Then their attention went back to his girlfriend.  
“Have you known him for long?”  
Karma let out an irritated sigh. “I told you already. Stop questioning her like that and just get to know her. Isn’t that what all this is about? Not how smart she is, not how beautiful she is or her background. But who she is now.”  
Cathy felt a blush rise in her cheeks and didn’t notice the woman sitting on the opposite side smile in approval.  
“Cathy,” she said. “I am curious. And this is about the current you.” She said, looking from Cathy to Karma. “But what made you fall for him?”  
The first response was a collective blush from the couple in question. Then a saving grace arrived in the shape of their food. Though once the waiter had left, Mrs. Akabane didn’t give Cathy any time to recover and looked back towards her.  
“So?”  
“Um...um. It’s kinda difficult to say. I mean, um... Oh gods. So yeah, he’s really smart and took it for granted for a long time until he realised that he couldn’t just get top spot without studying, so it’s amazing that he did that. We share the same sense of humour and he’s willing to listen to me talk about all kindsa things. He’ll also watch stuff with me and I’ll play video games with him. He stands up for the weak and takes down the people who think they can push them around. He’s-he’s just...amazing.” During her whole speech, she had been looking at the table. When she looked up again, the parents had broad grins plastered on their faces. She looked next to her to see Karma looking away. “Karma?”  
“Honestly I wondered when I’d end up saying that to you, but you are such an idiot.”  
She giggled. “Well I was only telling the truth.” She gently stroked his head. “So just enjoy your meal.”  
He looked at her fondly, a blush still prominent on his cheeks, and said, “’Course, dear. Otherwise you might finish your food before us.” Then he started eating after she took her first bite.  
In response she just rolled her eyes.  
The continuing conversation was polite and not too invasive like the beginning. Then Cathy thought it was her turn to ask a question for a change after a pause. “Mr. and Mrs. Akabane. Please don’t take this the wrong way, but why are you so alright with leaving Karma alone at home?”  
Karma’s chopsticks stopped in the air as he looked from his girlfriend to his parents. He had had a feeling this was coming, but had hoped that she wouldn’t bring it up. He could’ve asked her not to of course. But he knew in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t have made sense to ask that of her. She had the right to ask whichever questions she wanted, definitely since his parents had done just that. And truth be told, he was also curious.  
Mr. Akabane nodded and answered, “Since we trust our son to take care of himself. Which he has proven to be very capable of.”  
“I know. But how did you know that in the first place?”  
“Karma’s always been a bright child. We could see it way before we decided to travel the world.”  
“Ok. Fine. He’s a genius; not like I don’t already know that. But he was still a _child_. You could’ve at least left a guardian with him or something. Someone to do daily checks to see whether he’s doing ok. That’s what I got.”  
“That would’ve cost us extra unnecessary money,” Mr. Akabane put in sternly.  
“Excuse me?” Her voice turned vexed. Luckily she was able to hide most of it. “What? So you buying all kindsa fancy things and travelling around the world, you’ll spend your money on that, but not on your own son?”  
“Like I said, he can take care of himself. And he received money from us.”  
Cathy moved her neck to the side in a snake-like manner – a cold look in her eyes. “I always wondered what your response to this question would be like. I had so many excuses made up for you, to make you seem like better parents. It appears I was wrong. I’m sure you love him. You wouldn’t buy him spices and herbs from all those countries if you didn’t. Wouldn’t ask to see me if you didn’t. But I’m sure of one thing, you aren’t good parents. You’re lucky he didn’t turn out worse. He was lucky to be surrounded by people who loved him, cared for him and he loved in return. It’s a shame you weren’t around to see the beautiful change your son went through. He became someone I really liked to someone I love.” She stood up. “And that means that I will do everything in my power to keep him safe.” She leant on the table and stared straight at the parents with a dangerous smile. “So you better be prepared.” She closed her eyes and walked past Karma to the exit.  
Karma had already seen it coming and had moved his chair accordingly. He was so unused to seeing her this passionate about anything non-fictional, definitely him, that it made him blink for a minute. Then he stood up, ready to follow her.  
“Karma, wait,” his mother said desperately.  
“For what?”  
“You’re not really going after her, are you?”  
The look in his eyes hardened, making his parents flinch slightly. “She explicitly said why she loved me and stood up for me. I can’t imagine anyone else doing that, can you? Also, in the past three years she’s shown me more love than you have for most of my life. So yeah, I’m gonna go after her. Because I love her. For the reasons you saw and so much more.”  
Then he was gone through the door, leaving his parents dumbstruck and left to pay the bill.  
Karma exited the restaurant and noticed his girlfriend standing by the side, shaking. Of the cold or emotions from before he couldn’t tell. “Cathy,” he said softly as he neared her.  
She didn’t look around in response or anything.  
“Cathy.”  
Still nothing.  
He sighed. “Cathy,” he said in his Southern accent.  
She turned around and he could see the tears streaming down her face.  
“I’m sorry.”  
She shook her head. “No. I’m the one who should be apologising. I really messed up. I should’ve stayed in my lane and not spoken out of term. I should have kept quiet and-”  
“Not be the girl I fell for,” he finished for her.  
She dried her tears. “But still. Before your relationship with your parents was decent. Now I don’t know what’s gonna happen and I don’t want it to be ruined because of me.”  
He pulled her closer, with his hand on her head. “Yeah. Might be. But the thing is you told the truth. If they can’t accept that, that’s their loss.” He looked in her eyes. “And someone as powerful as me only needs one person by his side who he can truly trust.” He smiled slightly at her.  
She huffed a laugh. “For god’s sake. Though I guess everyone else’ll just be minions or something.”  
“More like puppets.”  
She rolled her eyes and hugged him. “I seriously love you, Karma.”  
He kissed the top of her head. “I love you too.”


	27. Calling home

The next day Karma got a call from his mother. He picked up and straight away she said his name desperately.  
“What is it, mother?”  
“Karma, please. Give us a second chance. She really does seem nice and everything. Your father was just a bit weird.”  
“A bit weird?” he repeated annoyed. “Everything he said was just inappropriate.”  
“I know. He was just a bit nervous.”  
“Did he go out drinking before?”  
She nodded and said in a small voice, “Yes.”  
He let out an irritated sigh. “And d’you actually think he would’ve been any better sober?”  
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking for a second chance.”  
“Did you tell him ’bout this?”  
“Yes.”  
“And?”  
“He jokingly said that he would need another drink.”  
“Oh, did he now?” he said in a dangerous voice that he hadn’t used since before the beginning of the school year.  
“Karma, it was just a joke.”  
“Yeah. Yeah. So if we were to meet again, he would have to be part of it?”  
“Um..yes,” she said unsurely.  
“Then ain’t gonna happen.”  
“What? Why?”  
He let out an irritated snarl. “Why d’you think? ’Cause I can’t let my girlfriend near someone who’s alright with getting drunk before he meets her. And you can’t if you want to defend his actions. Maybe one day you’ll get to see her by yourself, but not with him.”  
She tried to think of any kind of counterargument to make her son see reason, but came up with nothing. “Of course.” After a short pause she said, “We’ll still be giving you money, but won’t be in contact if you don’t want.”  
“Yeah. Thanks,” he said and hung up, going back to his video game.

That very moment, in an apartment not too far away, Cathy let out a big sigh as she set up her computer. _I’ll just tell them. They deserve to know._ She opened up the video chat app on her computer. Then she called her parents.  
Her mother answered within seconds and looked at Cathy with a smile. “Cathy. What a pleasant surprise. How have you been?” Her mother studied her with a smile. “You look happier.”  
“Thank you. I’m doing good. How about you, mum?”  
“Good. Good.”  
“Where’s dad? I want to tell the two of you something.”  
“Of course.” Her mother called her husband, who appeared next to her in no time.  
“What’s up?”  
“So yeah. As you know, I’ve been doing well in high school now, but I didn’t tell you something yet. Kinda ’cause in the end I think it’s a big deal for you and didn’t know how to start the conversation. But since I met his parents and I can’t imagine this going worse than that, I’ve decided to tell you now. I have a boyfriend.”  
Her parents beamed at her.  
“That’s great. Who is it? What’s he like?”  
“Karma. That’s why it took me so long to tell you.”  
“That aggressive psychopath?”  
“No. He’s not a psychopath, not even a sociopath. He just has very few characteristics of one. He’s really sweet.”  
“And how do you know it’s not just all an act, huh?”  
“Do you think that one would beat up someone who injured the person they love? Would blush out of embarrassment for whichever reason and stand up for the weak?”  
“So you’re saying he loves you,” her father put in.  
“Yes. He’s said so multiple times. He was in fact the first of us to say it.” _In his own stupid way, but still._  
“That doesn’t change the fact that it could be a way for you to fall into his web.”  
Cathy let out a long sigh and lent back in her chair. “Don’t think so. Yeah, sure. He can manipulate people if he wants to. Be a puppet master. But the thing is; he doesn’t do that. Unless it’s explicitly required of him. He will become a man of power, but because he works hard. If he were one, he wouldn’t bother with all that. He would just get another job where he can manipulate people easier.”  
Her parents looked at each other and then back at her. They weren’t sure of how to respond. So her mother just said, “You love him?”  
“Yes.”  
She nodded. “Ok. But be careful. He’s still dangerous.”  
_For the people who go against him, yeah._ “Of course.”  
“Is there anything else?”  
“No.”  
They nodded and hung up.  
Then Cathy let out a long sigh. “Guess it’s good they kinda approve, Karma,” she said aloud. “But it’s also depends on when or if they ever want to meet you.”


	28. The incident

The couple were on their way to school when they heard something interesting; someone talking about a yellow, octopus-like teacher. The group was both talking and laughing at the mere thought of him being a teacher, definitely since he had been said to blow up the moon and almost destroy the planet.  
Cathy looked worriedly towards Karma, unsure of how he would react considering everything. He was clearly angry and she could see that a part of him wanted to punch these goons.  
But he didn’t. He just walked over to them and told them to stop insulting his former teacher. One of the guys clearly had no idea who he was talking to because he just scoffed and continued insulting Korosensei.  
That, that set something off in Karma that Cathy had never seen before. He started shouting at the guy. His sharp canines were more visible than ever before, tearing through the air and the guy’s defences. His voice was still its even dangerous self, but much more elevated. This truly, truly showed how dangerous Karma was.  
Soon enough the guy realised that Karma was not one to be messed with, apologised and ran off.  
Cathy on the other hand was standing behind him frozen in fear. She had never seen him like this before and it truly was terrifying. She knew that her body was shaking.  
“Cathy?” Karma asked as he reached out to her.  
His voice snapped her out of it and she ran as fast as she could to the school. The moment she made it there, she went straight to the bathroom to try and calm herself. Why was she so scared all of a sudden? She had seen him in fights before. But this … this was something entirely different. She couldn’t put her finger on in what way yet, but she just knew it.  
Tears started forming in her eyes, which she quickly rubbed away. She came out of the bathroom and saw Karma standing outside with a worried expression. She backed away again and tripped over her own feet.  
“Cathy, please, I’m sorry,” he tried to say in a soft voice, but it could be heard that it was breaking.  
She shook her head. “No. Just please … stay away from me.” She wasn’t looking at him when she said, “You really are like a wild animal.”  
He could actually hear his heart break at those words. But he kept his composure and said, “Yeah. Sure.” And went off, forcing himself not to cry.  
Now Cathy was on the floor, still slightly fearing for her life. The moment she had seen him again, she had realised why she was so scared. Because if he … if he ever got angry at her, he would react like that towards her and she would be powerless to stand up against him.  
“There you are,” Anjerika said behind her. “Were wondering what was taking you so long.” Anjerika noticed her shaking. She knelt down in front of her and said in a soft voice, “Cathy, what’s wrong?”  
She shook her head. She was even too scared to put it into words. A contributing factor being that she didn’t know how her friend would react.  
Anjerika frowned in concern, but didn’t say anything more as she helped her up. “It couldn’t have been Karma right?”  
Her body tensed up at the mention of his name.  
Anjerika ’s jaw dropped. “What? What the hell did he do?”  
She shook her head, tears were now freely streaming down her face.  
“I’m gonna have a word with him later, thinking he can scare you like that.”  
Cathy aggressively shook her head and looked at her pleadingly.  
“Really?” She sighed. “Fine. But I’ll be there with you next time you see him if you want me to.”  
She shook her head again, mainly because she didn’t want her friend truly knowing why she was so scared now.  
Anjerika pulled her in for a hug. “We’re gonna get through this.”  
The rest of the day, Cathy hardly spoke a word, shocking most of the class. She still did what she had to do, only to be interrupted by her body suddenly tensing up in fear. Something that was making the fear worse was the fact that the day was almost over and that no matter what, she was going to see him again. She still didn’t know what to say. What could she possibly say? She truly felt terrible.  
The tears came again and this time she was sobbing. She lay her arms on her desk, pressed her head against them and wept.  
The teacher naturally noticed it and asked whether anyone knew why she was acting this way. No one did. He sighed and told her that she should go to the nurse’s office. She looked up at him confused, but he insisted. So she did as asked and slowly but surely made it there.  
Walking was difficult. Her legs had become like jelly and she didn’t know how to change that. She wanted to crawl into a hole and never come back. Life truly was unfair. In the grand scheme of things, she had no reason to be scared of Karma and yet here she was, scared out of her mind because he had shouted at someone.  
A muffled scream escaped her lips. A part of her was telling her that she was overreacting, but another part was telling her that this fear was good. Because if she ever felt this fear in the future, she should run like she had and never turn back.  
Was that it?  
Run.  
Run as far and fast as she could away from him.  
Maybe, but not now. Because this incident had been very important to him. The punk had disrespected Karma’s beloved teacher. It was only obvious that Karma would get angry. It was just how the anger had manifested itself truly was something else, like a force of nature. He was already scary on a normal day – to other people –, but this was just so much more intense.  
She remembered that she had even stopped breathing when she had seen it.  
She knocked on the door to the nurse’s office and entered. The nurse rushed her in and did a check-up. As expected, she wasn’t really unwell in any way, she just needed rest. So she was ushered into a bed to rest. She was too tired to protest, so she did so.

Hours later Cathy woke up and saw a certain red-head standing by the door. This time her body didn’t tense up in fear and she just looked at him with tired eyes. “Karma,” she said in a croaky voice. She looked away, still unsure of what to say.  
He was clasping and unclasping his hand to stay calm. The worry still hadn’t left his eyes. “You know I’d never shout at you like that, right?” he said in a small voice.  
She let out a ragged breath. “Don’t know until it’s too late.”  
“Yeah. But I just can’t get pissed at you, no matter what you do. Maybe one day in the future you’ll do something I don’t like, but I won’t shout. ’Cause today hurt so much and I don’t want that again. And I hate causing you pain.”  
Her tired eyes moved towards him. “I’m sorry.”  
He looked at her surprised. “You don’t have to apologise. You did nothing wrong. It was all me. And I’m so sorry for that. I just … lost my cool.” He paused for a bit and then said, “But don’t worry, I’ve got it back now.”  
She chuckled softly and shook her head. “I called you a wild animal. I’m sorry for that.” Then she looked at him lovingly. “I think it’d take a lot longer for you to become cool.”  
“Huh? What makes you say that?”  
Though there was mainly sadness in her eyes, the love could be seen. “’Cause you’re an idiot.” She curled up in a ball and said in a small voice, “And you being cool would also make you more popular.”  
A small blush formed on his cheeks. “Can I come closer?”  
Her eyes moved towards him unsurely. “Yeah.”  
He sat down on the chair next to her bed. “You know, sweetheart, whether I’m popular or not really doesn’t matter, ’cause you’re the only one for me,” he said in his endearing Southern accent.  
Her chuckle became warmer. “Oh, for God’s sake. I really appreciate that, Karma. ’Cause a life without you sounds so much more boring.”  
He grinned. “That it would be.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Karma,” she said seriously.  
“Yes?”  
“You’re an idiot. So just shut up.”  
“Yes, ma’am,” he said, happy that he had been able to make her laugh.


	29. Something’s cooking

Valentine’s Day was nearing and Cathy was freaking out. The main reason for this was she had no idea how to cook anything. Alex had suggested she help her with the chocolates, but Cathy wasn’t sure and she had another idea.  
She took out her phone and selected the number of one of her friends. “Hey, Yuki.” Even though the day was days away, desperation could still be heard in her voice.  
“Hello, Cathy. Is there something I can do for you?”  
“You have like a cook right?”  
“Yes. Why do you ask?”  
“Um...do you think he would know how to cook good chocolates?”  
Realisation hit her. “Oh, you want to make some for Karma.”  
“Yes,” she admitted in a small voice. It was a new experience, her actually having a boyfriend, who she loved, to give chocolates to on Valentine’s Day. And Karma being her boyfriend also made it more difficult because she had a feeling that he would act all smug about it. “Dammit, I fell for an idiot,” she groaned.  
“Cathy?” Yuki asked confused.  
For that second, she had forgotten she had been on the phone with someone. “Sorry ’bout that. So do you think it’ll be possible?”  
“Let me ask him.”  
Cathy could hear Yuki walking quickly through her house. Yuki covered the bottom of the phone. Seconds later it was uncovered.  
“He says that he will happily help you make chocolates.”  
“Thank you so much. When?”  
“Now if you’re free.”  
“Yeah. Sure. I’ve just gotta think of something to say if he asks me where I am.”  
“Is with me that difficult to believe?”  
She chuckled and shook her head. “No. but I have to come up with something that guarantees that he won’t decide to come over.”  
“Just girls’ time?”  
“That sounds good. Maybe if she wants to come, I can ask Anjerika to come over as well.”  
“True. I’ll send my chauffeur over to pick you up. If she’s coming as well, just tell him where he can pick her up. I’ll see you soon.”  
“Yeah. Bye, Yuki. Again, thank you.” Cathy texted Anjerika with the question. Though in response she got that Anjerika was busy making her own chocolates and didn’t need any help. _At least she’s got everything under control on her side._  
She got everything ready to leave the apartment. The moment Yuki’s chauffeur rang the bell, she opened it. She said goodbye to Alex, who unsurprisingly was living for this, and followed him to the car.  
Eventually they made it back to the Yamamoto mansion.  
“No matter how many times I come here, the size always amazes me,” Cathy said in wonder.  
“Would you like to live in a mansion like this one day, Miss Pravina?”  
“No. Just an apartment or a simple house. Enough for the people living in it and for them to do what they want to.”  
“That does sound nice.”  
“Yeah. It’s strange, spending all your wealth like that. It’d be cool if you brought a castle or something, though then winter would be a bitch. But like this...” she sighed, “...I dunno. I guess I’m just not really one for spending money on such big things.”  
“Then you are a responsible spender, Miss Pravina.”  
She laughed. “Sorry to disappoint, but I still go all out on buying merch, so I wouldn’t exactly say responsible.” She absentmindedly played with her necklace. “Though then again, now Karma’s also willing to pay for a decent amount of things.”  
He stopped the car and opened her door. “In that case he sounds like a wonderful boyfriend.”  
“Yeah. But I’m not gonna tell him that, otherwise it might go to his head.” She stepped out and bowed. “Thank you for driving me.”  
“My pleasure. The Miss has already been informed about your arrival.”  
“Thanks.” She walked towards the front door with a smile plastered on her face. _This is gonna be fun._  
Yuki happily welcomed her into the mansion with a hug. She then led Cathy to the kitchen, where she met the cook, Katsumoto Yoshihara. He said that he would teach her step by step how to cook the best Valentine’s chocolates and that they would make her boyfriend fall for her even more.  
Cathy nodded dutifully, though it could be seen in her eyes that she didn’t believe the last statement. Karma wasn’t really one for falling for someone because of their cooking skills after all.  
Finally it was time to turn the soft chocolates into shapes.  
“Are hearts too cliché?” Cathy asked unsurely.  
“Does that really matter?” Yoshihara asked. “You’re giving these chocolates to him because you love him, right?”  
“Yeah. And he does rule over my heart,” she said in a small voice. “So I’ll do a few of those and maybe do some other shapes.” The hearts were obviously the easy ones with a cutter, the other shapes on the other hand were not. She sighed and looked at her creations sadly. “Why is preparing something for him so difficult. It’s not fair. That stupid idiot deserves the world and I can’t even make decent chocolates for him.”  
“I think he’ll love them either way, Cathy. They were made by you after all.”  
“Yeah. I guess you’re right, Yuki. I’m sorry.”  
“It’s fine. Let’s just finish them.”  
The rest of the afternoon the trio finished the chocolates.


	30. Chocolate tridents

It was Valentine’s Day, the day of love. Karma was still basking in the memory of the previous one where he had gotten one of the best reactions from Cathy. And that was when they hadn’t been dating yet, this was a whole new level for him. What could he do now? He obviously wouldn’t be giving her anything today; he already had a plan for White Day.  
However the thing was, throughout the day, whenever he saw her, she pretended like it was just another day. She acted like she always did, with that great smile that he loved so much. But without giving him anything.  
_What’s she doing? Is she mad at me or something?_ he thought while coming back from his last class.  
He heard chuckling of his girlfriend and looked at her. She was grinning at him playfully.  
“I can’t believe you actually fell for it.” She reached in her bag. “Guess even a great mind such as yourself can be fooled by the simplest of things.”  
His whole stance changed, also to playful. “Don’t be silly, dear. I wasn’t fooled by anything.”  
“Oh, you were,” she said softly as she played with a bit of his hair. “That cute face of yours said as much. But don’t worry, it’ll stay between us, okay?”  
It took every ounce of strength in his being not to blush. He couldn’t show her how much all this was getting to him. “So, do you have something for me or not?” he asked, pushing up his confidence to the max.  
“Yeah.” She took out the bag of her prepared chocolates.  
“Thank you,” he said with a smile. He inspected them. He could see hearts, no surprise there, but the other shapes were far more interesting. There were also tridents present, undoubtedly demonic, and also pointy triangles, horns he presumed.  
This time he let the small blush appear on his cheeks. “Thank you, sweetheart. I love them,” he said as he stroked her on the head.  
“Oh, there you two are,” Anjerika almost shouted. “See you finally gave them to him.” She looked at Karma, pleased by his reaction. “Wanna come with me and Rukasu to the karaoke bar?”  
“Well, we already have plans,” Cathy said, looking up to Karma who was nodding.  
“Guess a movie.” Anjerika sighed. “C’mon. This is a special day. It’s your first Valentine’s Day as a couple. We’ve gotta have some fun.”  
“But karaoke...”  
“It’ll just be the four of us, so don’t worry.”  
“I’ll go if you want to, Cathy,” Karma eventually said.  
“Wait, you wanna go?”  
“Yeah, sure. Don’t see why not. And it could be interesting hearing you sing there like that.”  
“No. No way. I hate singing in front of people. Though then again...” she looked at him playfully, “you’ll also have to sing then.”  
“Sure.”

So it was decided that after the trip to the movies, the couples would meet up in the nearby karaoke bar. It was a simple setting, where they could order as much as they wanted.  
Anjerika, to no surprise of anyone, went first and sung her heart out. Rukasu seemed pleased to hear his girlfriend sing, though he was still wincing at how off key it sounded. Then it was his turn. He was so nervous that he ended up stumbling over his words. He walked off the stage in shame, where he got comforted by Anjerika.  
Then it was the other couple’s turn. It was obvious that Karma wanted his girlfriend to go first, with his constant poking, both literal and figurative. She sighed and went onto the stage. She looked over to him and wanted to bury her head in the sand because of the way he was looking at her. She selected a song and started singing. She knew it was off key, maybe not as bad as with Anjerika’s but still nothing amazing. Though she guessed that that was beside the point. They were here to have fun after all, not blow each other away with their amazing musical skills. Once the song finished, there was applause of one person. She smiled at him amused and handed over the microphone.  
He took it with a smile and a quick peck on her cheek. In return she just chuckled and shook her head. She was honestly curious. She loved his voice, it sounded so nice just listening to it, so she wondered what it would sound like when he sang. She knew that good voice didn’t necessarily equal good singing voice, so this was kind of like her own little experiment.  
Then he started singing and she almost lost it. It sounded so good, unbelievably so. And it was done with such little effort. This was it. She could listen to his voice in all shapes and forms for the rest of eternity and not get tired of it. She smiled at him fondly. _I really do love you, Karma Akabane._


	31. White Day

It was the 14th of March and Karma had just called Cathy over to the front gate, presumably to get her White Day present. However, she knew considering who she was dating, that it could just as well be a prank. She sighed with a smile and went over to find him. Once she saw him, her smile broadened and went over to him quickly.  
“Finally here, shorty,” he said with a smile. “Your little legs couldn’t carry you faster?”  
She rolled her eyes. “I had lessons on the other side of school. So, what’s up?”  
“Well, since you were nice enough to make me chocolates, thought I’d give you something in return.”  
She nodded, a combination of suspicion and expectation on her face.  
“Here. This is for you.” He handed over a drink.  
She took it, still cautious. She took a deep breath and took a sip. A look of pure disgust crossed her face when she tasted it.  
As expected, Karma started laughing. “Did I surprise you? That is one of my new work series, pig flavoured drink. That face of yours really is the cutest! Really, you make such great reactions.” The last sentence was spoken in his usual playful voice.  
She looked at him like she was ready to throw down with her idiot boyfriend. But instead she composed herself and said, “Yeah. Was surprising, but not really that bad.” She held it out to him. “You should try it as well.”  
He looked at her intrigued. “It’s your present, sweetheart. You shouldn’t share it.”  
“But I want to.” Her voice turned soft. “I mean, you let me try some of those chocolates, so it’s only fair right?”  
Even after knowing her for more than three years, she was capable of making him feel embarrassed like that. Damn. And that look she was giving him was so cute for crying out loud.  
“Please, Karma. Just try it.”  
He took the drink from her hand, not saying another word and took a gulp. As expected, it tasted disgusting. He coughed, then turned back to his usual calm self. “You right, it’s not that bad.” He took her hand with his free one. “Have any homework tonight? Bought a new movie I wanna see with you.”  
Her countenance turned more cheerful. “I’d love to.”  
He looked at her lovingly and kissed her on her temple. “Happy White Day, sweetheart. I’m looking forward to our future ones.”  
She chuckled. “Yeah. And I’ll get you back.”  
“Can’t wait.”


	32. First impressions

“Gotta say, London does look really nice,” Karma said as he walked beside his girlfriend on the streets of London. The couple had come here during the summer holiday.  
She smiled at him tenderly. “Yeah. It’s got all kinds of fun things and everything.”  
“And that big bookshop,” Karma reminded her with a smile.  
Cathy’s smile broadened. “Yeah. That as well. But we’ll do that tomorrow, okay?” She looked down unsurely. “If possible. Gonna spend time with my parents from now on, so they might want to do something else.”  
He rubbed her back reassuringly. “Sure they’ll listen to you if you tell ’em.”  
She nodded shyly. “Yeah.” She stopped outside a restaurant. “So you ready?”  
He smiled tenderly and stroked her head. “’Course. I’m gonna impress them, just you wait.”  
She chuckled and shook her head. “I guess we’ll see. As long as you remember to be yourself, okay.”  
“Will do, ma’am.”  
She rolled her eyes, loosely took his hand and led him into the restaurant. There she could see her parents sitting at a table reserved for four. Her heart started beating faster at the sight of them. These circumstances truly were nerve wrecking. At least she knew that it wouldn’t be as bad as meeting Karma’s parents.  
“You okay?” Karma asked beside her.  
She nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.” She walked over to the couple and hugged them in greeting. Then she stepped to the side and pointed awkwardly towards Karma. “So, this is Karma, my boyfriend,” she said barely louder than a whisper. She didn’t even know why she added that last part, her parents knew it. But it felt so natural to say now, even if it felt like she was dying from the nerves.  
Karma shook their hand in greeting and greeted them with a polite smile.  
The group sat down and started talking. However, it could be seen that Cathy’s parents still had some suspicions about the red-head. Though the more time passed, the smaller they became.  
But one thing was obvious: the way that Karma looked at their daughter meant that he was serious about this relationship. Even the way he held himself was in preparation for any kind of protection.  
After dinner they exited the restaurant. Before they went any further, Mrs. Pravina said while bowing, “I’m sorry, Karma.”  
The young couple turned around to look at her. Karma’s arm was already around his girlfriend’s waist.  
“Mum?”  
“For what?”  
“We made some presumptions about you that turned out to be wrong, very wrong. We shouldn’t have done that, especially since it was clear from the beginning how much you meant to Cathy.”  
A small blush formed on Cathy’s cheeks.  
Karma on the other hand was unsure what to pay more attention to. So he just pushed the other feelings to the side and said, “It’s fine. People do that when they hear certain things about others. So don’t sweat it, okay.”  
The parents looked at each other unsurely and nodded.  
Karma moved his hand and placed it on top of Cathy’s head. “Heard I meant a lot to you even then,” he said so only she could hear it.  
She nodded shyly, unsure of what to say.  
His heart was hammering in his chest. He could feel it in his gut. No. He knew it, but he hadn’t dared give shape to this feeling till now. He didn’t deserve her. By his side ... her and only her. And strangely enough she was willing to grant him that wish of his ... that.  
But instead of showing her any of those feelings, he said with a broad smile, “Glad to hear that, sweetheart.”  
She looked at him mildly annoyed. “Shut up, you idiot. Let’s just go.” She turned around and started walking.  
“So when exactly?”  
“There wasn’t a specific point. I just knew that I really liked being by your side.”  
This time he let out a nervous chuckle. “Never expected I’d make that much of an impression.”  
She shook her head with a faint smile. “Neither did I. Yet here we are.”  
“Aren’t you glad it turned out like this?”  
She grinned at him. “Extremely so.”  
“You know, you’re being extra cute today.” He poked her cheek lightly. “And blushy.”  
“Well yeah, you had to impress my parents and you did. But you know nerves never leave me.”  
“Yet sometimes I manage to help them go away.”  
“But you’re not omnipotent.”  
“Huh? What makes you say that?” he asked fake confused.  
She huffed a laugh. “Just general knowledge of you.”  
“Your field of expertise. Guess I’ve got no choice then.”  
Her look turned askance. “Yeah.”  
“It’s really a shame though.”  
“Why?”  
“Because only someone omnipotent could keep someone as perfect as you safe all the time.”  
Her blush – brighter than ever before on this day – returned. First she looked at him shocked, then she shouted louder than advised for someone talking on the street, “God damn it, Karma, I hate you so much!”  
He gently kissed her on the cheek. “Love you too, dear.” He moved his arm so that it was now around her shoulder and rubbed it slightly, holding her closer in the process.  
In return Cathy just gave him a tired, loving smile.  
“She’s grown up so much,” Mrs. Pravina said surprised from behind the pair.  
“Along with him apparently. We should have met him earlier.”  
“Yes. He’s clearly going to be a part of her future or at least wants to be. But it would have been difficult to organise with him just being her friend.”  
“True. Either way, it’s nice to have someone she’s happy with.”  
She nodded.  
They arrived at the Pravina house.  
“This is where I’ll say goodbye.” Karma kissed Cathy on the cheek. “Night, sweetheart. See you tomorrow.”  
“’Night, Karma. Be careful on your way to the hotel.”  
He grinned. “It’s not that far. I’ll be fine.”  
“I could always drive you,” Mr. Pravina suggested.  
“No need. Rest all you want.”  
The man nodded. “Can I still have a quick word with you?”  
He cocked his head ever so slightly, but nodded nonetheless.  
The two went to stand further away. Karma was leaning against the wall of the house. “You gonna give the classic ‘if you hurt my daughter’ talk or something like that?”  
He shook his head. “I’d have to be blind to think you do something like that. But do be careful. If anything happens to her…”  
“It’s on me, got it. Don’t worry. I’ll keep her safe. I’ve been pretty much doing that for the past three years.”  
His mouth fell open. “Like what, the moment you became friends?”  
“Something like that, yeah. Can’t really explain it. Maybe I could, but you wouldn’t understand. She’s … a light, the brightest light that I’ve ever seen and I want her to continue shining for as long as possible. I’ll do anything for that.”  
A thought crossed his mind that he was honestly scared of asking, but really wanted to know the answer to. “Including breaking the law?”  
Karma shook his head. “Would consider it, yeah. But she wouldn’t like that, so no.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. Your daughter’s in safe hands.”  
He let out a sigh of relief, though it also had a bit of nervousness to it. “Yeah. Thank you.”  
“Sure thing. If that’s all...”  
“It is. Goodnight, Karma.”  
“’Night.” Karma looked towards the door, where Cathy was still standing and looking at him apprehensively. His smile softened. “You should be inside, dear.”  
She smiled at him and nodded. “Just wanted to see you off properly.” She waved at him. “Bye, Karma.”  
“Bye, Cathy.”


	33. Graduation trip

Three years later it was the day of the entrance exam into everyone’s preferred colleges. Karma was now on his lunch break and decided to text Nagisa.  
“Are u free right now?”  
Nagisa responded with: “Today’s your exam, right?”  
“Of course. Right now, I’m on lunch break. It’ll be over in three hours, so let’s meet up after this. Cathy might take a bit longer, but she’ll also come over once she’s done.”  
Nagisa smiled wryly at Karma’s invitation. “You’re rather composed.”  
Naturally Karma responded: “I guess you could say that. So, does the usual family restaurant at 4:00 sound good to you?”  
“It’s snowing hard outside, though?”  
He laughed, thinking back at the snowball fight he had had with Cathy before. “It’s snowing hard over here, too, but I’m still doing this exam, you know. Don’t stay all snug and cosy in your room and get over here.”  
In the end, Nagisa gave in and headed off to the meeting place Karma had specified, treading on the new snow underfoot. On the way to the station, he saw some elementary schoolers having a snowball fight. While taking care not to get hit by a stray snowball, he traversed through the difficult terrain and arrived first of the two at their usual family restaurant. His body had become thoroughly chilled, so although he had entered a warm room, the core of his body remained cold. His body shivered as he waited, until Karma came at the exact time he had specified.  
“Yo.”  
He was so tall that he immediately captured the attention of those around him. He had grown 10 centimetres since middle school, making him 185 centimetres tall.  
Nagisa, who still hasn’t even reached 160 centimetres, believes that his own growth spurt will happen any moment now… It would still be several years before he would realise that it was never going to happen. _It really was unfair,_ he thought.  
Karma smirked once he noticed Nagisa staring at him enviously.  
“What’s wrong Nagisa? Is my face too high for you to see?”  
“…Just be quiet.”  
This year, Nagisa made sure not to meet with Karma because he was worried about Karma’s exams. When Karma would invite Nagisa to hang out with him in spite of his upcoming exams, Nagisa would end up giving him the cold shoulder. He had also known that between study hours he had probably snuck into Cathy’s apartment.  
“How did your exam go today?”  
“It was no big deal. None of the problems were beyond what I had expected.” Even though he had just finished a gruelling exam, Karma didn’t look worn out in the slightest. In fact, he was just as nonchalant as ever. “Who cares about the exam? I called you out here because I wanted to discuss something with you. Let’s all go on a graduation trip.”  
“…A graduation trip?!”  
“We’re all going to become college students or inherit the family business, so we’re going to have less chances to go on trips together. Everyone should be able to make it if it’s Mid-March, right?”  
“…Mid-March? Entrance exams will still be going on. If anybody fails their midyear exams, then…”  
“I’m telling you, it’s going to be fine. We’re Class E, after all.” Karma smirked.  
“Takebayashi made sure not to repeat the mistakes he made when he had taken his high-school entrance exams and squeezed his way into a private university commensurate with his abilities. I passed by Isogai at the exam hall earlier, and it didn’t look like he had any problems, either. Even Terasaka passed the exam for one of his backup universities, so even that cheeky bastard is gonna be a college student. As far as I know, everyone should be able to make it.”  
“Is that…so?”  
Then, Nagisa suddenly remembered: “Kayano won’t be able to make it! She said that she had a film shoot overseas around that time!”  
“Seriously?! I see. That’s too bad… She sure is a popular actress.”  
“She said it was for an Action-Adventure film called Gold City.”  
This surprised Karma so much he halfway stood up from his chair. “Eh!? You’re kidding!? That movie is directed by the same guy that did Sonic Ninja!”  
“Really?”  
“Yes, really! I’m sooo jealous! So, she’s already an international star. Kayano’s amazing!”  
“Do you still regularly keep in touch with Kayano?”  
“Yeah, although, all we do is exchange text messages. She’s extremely busy, so we shouldn’t let our goofing around snatch away her precious time.”  
Karma was shocked at Nagisa, who said this with a smile.  
“Nagisa, you’re way too reserved. For us, she isn’t ‘Mase Haruna’, she’s Kayano, a member of Class E just like us. Sometimes you should just try being pushy and invite her out. She’s our dear friend, right?  
“Maybe you’re right, but…”  
“Although, I guess it’d be impossible to invite her to a graduation trip if she’s doing a film shoot overseas. Did you hear where she was going?”  
“Yeah, she said she was going to the country of Phnon in Southeast Asia. They’re doing a film shoot at a group of temples designated as a World Heritage Site.”  
Karma struck his hands together. His face showed that he just thought of some kind of plan.  
“I know where we should go for our graduation trip. Let’s go see Phnon’s World Heritage temples!”  
“Ehh!?”  
“This is perfect! I was thinking that we should go somewhere overseas, so let’s go where Kayano’s going!”  
“But that’s absurd! If we go there, we’ll just bother her!”  
“It’s okay if we’re just going there to take pictures. It’s not like we’re going there specifically to bother her. It’ll just be coincidence that we meet her there. Just coincidence.” Karma smiled his smile that was fit for a demon. When he becomes like this, there’s no stopping him. “It’s decided.”  
Karma immediately pulled out his smartphone and sent a message to the rest of Class E. Shortly thereafter, replies started pouring in one by one. Everyone agreed to the trip.  
“…..It’s because I was blabbing about Kayano’s schedule that everyone’s going to go bother her. This is all my fault,” Nagisa replied with a depressed look on his face.  
“How cute that you think that,” Cathy suddenly said, entering the restaurant. She was smiling down at Nagisa, who was looking at her in surprise. She also hadn’t grown much, but the clothes she was wearing made her seem really mature. He looked towards Karma who was looking lovingly at her.  
“How’d it go?”  
“A pain, but worked out in the end. I presume yours was nothing above your expectations.”  
He shook his head with a smirk. “Of course, dear.”  
She ruffled his hair. “The smart idiot strikes again.” She looked around. “I’m gonna find a chair.”  
“Or you could sit somewhere else,” he almost sang.  
She looked at him confused, until she realised he was referring to his lap. Since this most definitely was not the place where something like that would happen, her cheeks started reddening.  
He grinned at her. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? You don’t wanna?” he said in his Southern accent.  
Instead of arguing against it, she plopped down on his lap. He held her against him. “Much better,” he said closely.  
She just rolled her eyes with a smile. She looked at Nagisa who was staring unsurely at the two, wondering whether he even should be here anymore. She gave him a weak smile. “Sorry ’bout that, he just gets a bit needy sometimes. But as I wanted to say before, you don’t have to worry about Kayano; Karma got the details from her a while back.”  
“Eh!?” Nagisa’s confusion increased.  
Karma picked up his phone and showed Nagisa Kayano’s replies.  
Kayano had said, “I’m going to be doing a photo shoot outside of Japan around that time. Sorry. I really want to go with all of you! I’m so bummed-”  
“It’s for Gold City, right? I saw an announcement for its production on the news. You’re totally an international star now, huh.”  
“No, no, far from it!”  
“It’s located in Southeast Asia, right? Where exactly are you shooting the film?”  
“We’re doing it at Phnon’s World Heritage Site.”  
“My parents have also gone to those temples, but they said it’s near a lot of water, which was terrible. Make sure you take care~”  
“I will. Thanks. Say hi to everyone for me!”  
“See?” Karma said with a broad grin. “With this, I was able to confirm the location and time of the film shoot from Kayano herself. This whole plan of mine has nothing to do with you spilling the location, so you can sit back and enjoy the trip.”  
“Yeah. As you can see, Nagisa, my idiot’s not one to be underestimated.”  
“Shhh, dear. The men are talking,” Karma said, putting his finger to her mouth.  
She looked at him like he was going to regret those words later, though the amusement in her eyes said it would be more in a fun way than not.  
Nagisa was tongue-tied at Karma’s ability to put his scheme in order in less than half an hour.  
“I’m grateful that you took my feelings into consideration, but will Kayano really be happy about having such a large number of people intrude on her…?”  
“Of course! Now, go ask her what her film schedule will be and where she’s lodging.”  
“I can’t do that!”  
“A ha, ha, guess not. Even I wouldn’t be so shameless to ask her something like that. We’re gonna surprise Kayano with everyone, so keep it a secret, ‘kay?”  
“Yeah,” Nagisa said and left the restaurant, still seeing the devilish smile on Karma’s face.  
The moment Nagisa left, Cathy looked up at her boyfriend annoyed. “You’re an idiot, you know that.”  
He chuckled. “Since I’m always reminded by a certain someone, yeah, I know. Not like you really helped, though.”  
She groaned and leant against him. “We’re terrible in public settings.”  
He loosely played with her hair. “Yeah. Should get better at that before we go to any important parties.”  
She looked him in the eyes. “D’you think your future work place will have them?”  
He shrugged. “Government places always do at some point or another.”  
“Makes sense.” She smiled. “It was funny seeing Nagisa so confused about your already put together plan.”  
“That it was. And how you spoke to him when you arrived was very...let’s say, awesome.”  
She shrugged. “It can’t be helped. I’m just that awesome.”  
“Glad you think so too, sweetheart,” he said going in for a kiss. “We should get going. I still have to pack.”  
“Of course.” She caressed his cheek and held her head close to his.  
“Cathy,” he said, feeling worried and embarrassed at the same time.  
She snapped back to her usual self and got up. “Yeah. I’ll help you pick out clothes if you want.”  
He looked at her confused. He had seen some kind of sadness in her eyes. Was it because he was going alone with his classmates and leaving her behind? That would be very strange. He of course would miss her as well, but she had enthusiastically agreed to it before.  
As they were walking to his apartment together, his arm around her waist, he asked, “D’you want me to go?”  
She looked up at him confused. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”  
He looked away. “You seemed kinda upset earlier.”  
She sighed and laughed softly. “My dear Karma, of course I’m gonna miss you and that’s making me kinda sad. But I’d take missing you over you possibly meeting your favourite director any day.”  
He gave her a shrewd smile. “Of course I’m gonna meet him. And impress him.”  
She put up her finger. “Just don’t get too cocky before you meet him otherwise you’ll likely ruin it.”  
He nodded, though the look in his eyes was still that of a determined man.


	34. On location

The next day Karma set off early with his old classmates. The group made it to Kayano’s filming location and took her out of thinking about them. She was surprised to see them and Karma said that it was just a coincidence that they were there as well.  
“I’m so surprised! I was just thinking about all of you, so I thought I was seeing an illusion!” Kayano showed them a smile full of joy.  
After not seeing Kayano up-close after so long, her friends in Class E where all charmed by her figure. Dressed for her role, she wore a tank top and shorts, giving her a rough appearance, but at the same time, her appearance shone much more brilliantly than ever before.  
“That’s an international actress for you. You’ve gotten even cuter!”  
Kayano felt shy from such a voice. As Class E noisily clamoured around her,  
“Haruna? What’s up?”  
Nathonni, the director, went up and called out to Kayano.  
“My dear friends have come to see me! We were classmates in middle school!”  
“Oh? If they’re your friends, then they’re welcome here. You’re a true professional. A respectable actress.”  
Nathonni bluntly praised Kayano. While Kayano thanked him for his kindness, Karma boldly began speaking to Nathonni.  
“I’m a fan of your work. I got into your stuff after seeing Kill Romance, and I flew from Japan to Hawaii to watch Sonic Ninja.”  
“I’m happy to hear that! Please promote this movie more and more in Japan!”  
Karma firmly shook the hand offered to him by Nathonni. He grinned internally. Honestly the only thing that could have made this trip better would be seeing Cathy’s reaction to all of this.  
“Ah, over there, isn’t that Jerome March?” As Okajima pointed his finger, Yada and Nakamura followed suit.  
“You’re right! It’s Jerome!”  
“Wow, he’s super handsome in person! He’s got such an aura!”  
Jerome turned his eyes towards the onlookers, and, upon noticing the girls in Class E, responded with a courteous raise of his hand.  
“Jerome looked this way!”  
“I saw his face for a second!”  
The girls of Class E made a racket over every single move the young superstar made.  
Jerome had left his trailer, making the filming site boom with energy as the staff sped up his preparation. “Director, I’m ready.”  
Upon hearing the star’s words, Nathonni and Kayano returned to the site.  
The tension was high on the site as an important scene between Jerome and Rin, Kayano’s character, fast approached them.  
Kayano and Jerome stood by themselves before the temple as the makeup artist nimbly reapplied their makeup. The camera operator had his lens trained on the flames.  
As if to pierce the thick atmosphere, Nathonni’s shout flew through the air. “Action!”  
The camera was turned towards them. Waking up after a fall, Rin spoke to Jerome, who watched her with a worried gaze. “Thanks for saving me again.”  
“From now on, I’ll save you as many times as it takes.”  
Rin had made a sweet expression, but suddenly her expression turned severe as she said, “You’re only in it for the money.”  
“Yeah, I do love money. But you know, there are other things I love besides money!”  
“Like what!?”  
At Rin’s strong response, Jerome grabbed both her shoulders.  
“You.”  
Jerome’s face closed in on Rin’s, ready to kiss.  
Class E watched Kayano’s kiss scene unfolding before their eyes.  
“Oh shit, it’s a kiss scene!” Okajima whispered in a low voice.  
However, Rin turned her face away.  
“Cut, cut!” At the same moment the director’s voice called out, Kayano apologized to Jerome.  
“I’m so sorry!”  
“You’re nervous because your partner is the Jerome, right? Relax, relax.”  
She smiled at Jerome and took a look at her face, biting her lip in frustration.  
“Take two, action!”  
They reshot the scene and redid the kiss scene. The part where they say their lines went by smoothly, but once they got to the kiss, Kayano would get nervous and become stiff as a board, making the footage unusable once again. After that, they botched take three, then take four, and after take five, Nathonni yelled out, “Cut! It looks like this isn’t going to work no matter how many times we try. Let’s shoot some more scenes, and once you’ve thrown off your reserve, go back to the kiss scene.”  
“Wait a sec, can we postpone the kiss? We can look forward to it later.” Jerome winked at Kayano.  
While the film staff moved around the cameras and lighting for the next scene, Nathonni gave Kayano a long, hard talking to. Class E watched Kayano anxiously.  
Then, the film group went on their lunch break. Class E had lunch at one of the food stalls close to the entrance of the ruins, where they joined with Kayano.  
“Good work, Kayano,” Kurahashi said. When Kurahashi greeted Kayano with an innocent smile, Kayano felt as if she was back in Class E.  
Forgetting even her tiredness from working on the film, she let out a natural smile. “Hinano!”  
“You’re amazing! You spoke super-fluent English with Jerome March!”  
Upon receiving praise from Maehara, Kayano smiled bitterly and shook her head.  
“It was pretty unsteady and shaky. Even though Korosensei and Professor Bitch drove it into me, my skills will quickly grow dull if I don’t use them.”  
“I didn’t get that impression at all though? Your acting was also almost completely spot on. It was only near the end when you looked like you were having a bit of a hard time.”  
Maehara’s words made Kayano recall her repeated performance mistakes. Everyone else wouldn’t understand since they don’t know how she usually is, but her acting earlier was so unbelievably poor compared to her usual abilities that she couldn’t help punishing herself.  
_I’ve done so many kiss scenes already, and yet…_  
Muramatsu asked Kayano with a broad grin, “So you were nervous having such a handsome Hollywood star come in such close range after all?”  
“Y-yeah, you might be right, ahaha.” Kayano forced out a laugh as she tilted her head. Understanding the true meaning behind Kayano’s smile, Karma whispered into Kayano’s ear, “I’m sorry Kayano …… if there’s a kiss scene involved, then I guess it would’ve been better if I didn’t bring Nagisa, huh?”  
“Huh!?”  
He hit the nail on the head, making Kayano’s face instantly dyed in a bright red.  
Seeing a competent, veteran actress lose herself over a single person was amusing to Karma, so he couldn’t help messing with her a bit.  
Curious about filming, Yada asked Kayano, “Hey, hey, isn’t it tougher to be in an international collaborative film compared to a Japanese drama or movie?”  
“Y-yeah…Well, somehow I manage to get by with my English, but the film’s staff come from all sorts of different countries, and almost nobody out of the people hired on site can speak in English, so when you put all that together, it makes things very difficult for the line producer. Everyone is using everything they have, but it still takes a lot of time.”  
“Wow, really?”  
“The director will suddenly come up with an idea, but every time the staff tries to implement it, we end up with something nonsensical, and there are times when we simply don’t have enough manpower to do it anyway.”  
Karma was in admiration. “Ah, that’s so like Nathonni. It’s the directors with that degree of selfishness that are able to make interesting movies.” Karma glanced at his wristwatch. “I want to hear even more stories from you, but I guess it’s almost time for you to go, Kayano?”  
“Ah, you’re right. I gotta go.” Just when Kayano went to stand up from her seat, they heard a fierce argument in the distance.  
“What the……it sounds like it’s coming from the filming site.”  
It was an argument between the director and the line producer. At the end of the argument the line producer quit. With the line producer gone, the local staff whom he had gathered began to leave one after another, until all who were in charge of transporting the film equipment left altogether. Faced with such circumstances, the cameraman gave into grief.  
“Director, what do we do!? We won’t be able to make the movie like this! Losing our assistant is just the same as losing all our limbs!”  
Calming down from his anger, Nathonni began to regret what he had done. “...We’ll need some new staff.”  
“And where the hell will we find new staff!? We’re already on a tight schedule!”  
The cameraman rebuked the director. Watching the director cradle his head in his hands, Karma called out to Kayano, “Kayano, we can help them, right?”  
Terasaka immediately retorted from the side, “Are you stupid!? We’re total amateurs!”  
“And so we can help. You’re a stupid amateur with physical strength.”  
“Huh!?”  
“Which means you can help out with heavy work and chores, right? Let’s support Kayano’s performance.”  
Nagisa gave a strong nod to Karma’s words.  
“Korosensei, Mister Karasuma, and Professor Bitch …… under their guidance, we polished all sorts of blades in the assassination classroom. Right now, there should definitely be something useful we can do.”  
“Yeah!”  
“Let’s do this!”  
Class E raised their voices all at once. Kayano was moved by their spirit. “Everyone…… thank you!”  
While everyone in Class E was discussing amongst themselves, Kayano took them to Nathonni. “Director, my friends say they want to become part of your staff and help out!”  
“I’m grateful for the offer, but what are they capable of?”  
Karma stepped forward to the incredulous Nathonni and spoke in fluent English, “As you can see, everyone has various skills on top of being able to speak English, so I think we’ll be of use. We can also serve as interpreters for your Japanese staff, and this guy is especially sturdy, so it doesn’t matter if you bury him in the Earth and use him as a pillar.” Karma pointed to Terasaka, causing Nathonni to laugh at his joke. “Ha ha, your English is perfect. If your friends can speak it this well then we’re saved.”  
“Hey, Karma. What the hell did you tell him?”  
“I asked him to please handle Terasaka with care.”  
“Tch, I bet you told him to abuse me!”  
Everyone was extremely busy thanks to the circumstances on site, so Class E was immediately sorted into different teams among the film’s staff.  
Mimura, as an aspiring TV man, immediately entered the workplace as an assistant for the assistant director. Okajima joined the filming department, and Sugaya came forward to help the art department.  
Hara entered the costume department, and Muramatsu entered the catering department. Whenever Class E heard there was a personnel shortage in any of the departments, they took advantage of their English skills to rapidly join in. Yada took on the challenge to do the maintenance for the equipment vehicle used to transport their sets.  
Nagisa ended up doing miscellaneous chores that didn’t require a lot of strength.  
A few months ago, the film group had built a giant set near the actual temples. The stone ruins in which the heroes Jerome and Rin wander were freshly built at that time.  
Chiba and Hayami came there to take a peak.  
“Yo, Chiba, you’re going to study architecture, right?” Sugaya called out to Chiba as he was repainting the set.  
“Yeah. This kind of structure is different than proper architecture, but I was interested in what kinds of techniques they used to assemble this, so I came to take a look.”  
“I’m in a similar boat. For us to get tangled into this kind of interesting work, it’s like a godsend.”  
“But this is awesome. So they can build such large structures for a set, huh?” Chiba was astounded by the size.  
“It looks just like the real deal.” Hayami carefully examined the portion Sugaya was repainting. These stone ruins on set were, in fact, not made of stone at all. Internally, steel and wood were combined to build a sturdy structure, while externally, imitation rocks made of coloured Styrene were affixed to the frame.  
One of the art assistants, a craftsman, approached Chiba and the others, who were staring at the structure with wonder, and said, “Ha ha, it’s astonishing, isn’t it? I’ll let you guys take a proper look at the inside.”  
The art assistant invited the three into the set. The insides held the atmosphere of a forgotten temple, naturally giving off a feeling of roughness that comes with having no people within for several thousands of years. It even felt as if the cracks along the interior were allowing water to leak through. The stone passageway continued endlessly. He showed that it was only the beginning of the passage; the continuation was just a wall. It was a dead-end. It had been painted to look that way, so that the whole passage didn’t have to be built.  
Sugaya was in pure admiration of their workmanship. He praised the man to his best of his abilities. “This work, great. I do art, too, but can’t quite do this.”  
“Is that so? Thanks for the compliment!”  
Thanks to Class E helping out the art group, adjustments to the set were made at a rapid pace while Nathonni devoted his time to filming the next scene.  
The action team mounted Jerome’s body on a harness. This was a scene where Jerome would have to move around by freely running through the trees of the jungle, flying off the vines hanging down.  
Jerome, confident in his physical abilities, was itching to start moving.  
“Girls from all over the world are going to fall in love with me and my action scenes all over again!”  
Two people pulled against the wire connected to Jerome’s harness, making his body float in midair, and he began to dynamically move about through the atmosphere. Under the guidance of the action director, he ran through the air.  
“Ooh, this is cool! It’s totally different from free running!” Okajima, who was delegated into the role of pulling the wire, gazed at Jerome’s movements.  
“Whew!!” Jerome let out a strange voice as he bounced through the trees like a sewing needle. His reflexes were as good as one would expect.  
“Good, good! Just like that!” Nathonni said pleased.  
To show off Jerome’s movements more flashily, they tested using cameras moved with a combination of cranes and rails. However, Nathonni looked dissatisfied when he checked the film. “You’re making such great pains to move so magnificently, and yet the cameras are so ordinary. I want this to have more impact, as if it were something no one has ever seen before.” Upon saying this, Nathonni clasped his hands together. “I know! Let’s have the cameraman suspend himself on a wire, too! The cameraman will chase behind Jerome and film him!”  
They needed more workers to hold the extra wire, so Itona and Mimura joined them.  
“Woah! It’s this hard to balance on a wire!?”  
The cameraman struggled with being suspended on a wire for the first time. Moving while being hung on a wire was not as easy as it appeared. He struggled to maintain his balance as he looked through the viewfinder.  
When Nathonni looked at the test video, it was seen that the cameraman was able to follow Jerome and create a dynamic video, but the screen was shaking so violently that the film was unusable. “Please, let me take a break. My vision is spinning.”  
At the cameraman’s request, the wire was removed from his body.  
“It looks like it could be such an interesting video. What a waste.”  
Seeing Nathonni so disappointed, Okajima raised his hand and stepped forward. “Um, I’m always taking pictures of sports players, so I’m used to capturing fierce movements with a camera. Will you let me try?”  
“A sports cameraman, huh? If that’s the case, let’s give you a shot.”  
Okajima attached the harness to himself, and was lifted up with the wire.  
“Mimura, you can move it faster!”  
“OK!!” Mimura promptly pulled the wire and ran. Okajima’s body danced through the air.  
“Yahoo!!” Okajima followed closely behind Jerome as he held his camera, freely storing his acrobatic movements within.  
Nathonni watched the recording video through his monitor. “Great! Great! Move like that!”  
Okajima would sometimes kick against a tree, instantaneously changing the angle of the camera. With movements even bolder than Jerome’s, every angle of Okajima’s subject was accurately tracked.  
“Cut!! Fantastic! This scene is brimming with dynamism!” Nathonni acclaimed. Receiving such praise, Okajima triumphantly said, “I’m always chasing after beautiful athletes with even more speed than that! This was a piece of cake!”  
Holding the other end of the wire, Itona murmured, “All roads lead to eroticism, I see.”  
Beginning with Okajima’s success, the former assassins of Class E had earned the trust of the film staff in all sorts of different fields.


	35. What’s that smell?

When shooting a film, only a little bit of time is spent with the camera actually rolling, as most of the time is spent on preparations. One must patiently wait for the actors and setting to be arranged, and sometimes it’s imperative that one concentrate on one’s acting in order to make a shot last for only a few seconds.  
Preparing for the possibility that filming will resume shortly, Kayano was outside her trailer and rereading the script.  
“Haruna, you wanna go take a break in my trailer?” Jerome said from behind. Kayano responded with a smile,  
“No, I’m alright. If I return to a cool trailer, my senses will go all out of order, so I’m staying outside.”  
“You’re so serious. You need to relax more.” Jerome placed his hand on Kayano’s shoulder. Jerome had been like this since the press conference for the production announcement. She tried to shake off his hand by turning her body to the side, but Jerome stuck to her persistently. “There are cases where love begins at the work place. You and I are playing roles who are attracted to each other, so our acting will be more realistic if we attract each other in private.”  
“If you’re a pro actor, you have to be able to play a role you have no experience with. You don’t need to kill someone to play the role of a murderer, do you?” Kayano glared at him.  
“Today, I’ve reserved a rooftop bar for your sake. Once filming has finished, let’s deepen our friendship.”  
“Impossible. I promised to meet with my friends today.” Kayano’s eyes met with Yada’s and Kanzaki’s, who were checking the condition of the props right in front of her.  
“…That guy, is he always like that?” Yada asked Kayano in Japanese, who nodded with a grimace.  
Jerome looked behind him, and began to look Yada and Kanzaki up and down. “Is that so? Then how about your friends come with us? Your friends are cute, too. We can give them a welcome party!”  
Kayano was completely astounded by how casual Jerome was being.  
“Haruna, you’re up soon!” Just then, the assistant director called out to her, and Kayano separated herself from Jerome.  
After doing so, Jerome approached Kanzaki and Yada. “Hey cuties! Today, I’m going with Haruna to a rooftop bar once we’re done filming, but she was wondering if she could bring girls like yourselves with her. Girls are most definitely welcome!”  
Yada and Kanzaki reflexively exchanged glances.  
“Kaede looked really reluctant, so he has to be lying.” Yada stepped forward as if to shield Kanzaki.  
“We really would like to go, but we promised the rest of our class that we’d go sightseeing with them today. I’m sorry.”  
“Tch, you might not ever receive a second invitation from the Jerome.” Jerome gave up quickly and looked for another target. He found and approached Okuda, who was carrying some chemicals.  
Okuda was carrying the chemicals used for special effects when Jerome suddenly appeared before her eyes, causing her to stop in her tracks from surprise.  
“Hey, you’re cute. What’re you doing?”  
“Eh, um, that’s…”  
For a shy person like Okuda, an over familiar man like Jerome was the most difficult type to deal with.  
“Are you so deeply moved that you can’t speak? Don’t push yourself. After all, the Jerome is right before your eyes.”  
Jerome gently hugged Okuda’s shoulders. Okuda stiffened up with a start. As if bound by a spell, Okuda couldn’t move. Her lips moved, but the words wouldn’t come out. “Take off your glasses. I’m sure you’ll be even more beautiful.”  
Just as Jerome stretched out his hand to touch Okuda’s face another voice said from behind him, “Hey, Jerome!”  
Without either of them knowing it, Karma was standing behind Jerome. Noticing that a turbulent air was mixed in with his usual smile, Okuda, as if breaking the spell, uttered the words, “I- I’m alright, Karma!”  
With the sound of her voice, her legs moved as well, making her able to leave Jerome’s arms.  
“What do you want?” Jerome glared at Karma, aware of the turbulent air emanating from him. Karma was nearly the same height as Jerome, so even as they faced each other, physically, neither was outdone by the other.  
“Now now, take it easy. I don’t intend on hindering a star, after all.”  
Jerome brushed off Karma’s hand in response to Karma over familiarly patting his shoulder.  
“My shoulder isn’t cheap, you know?”  
“Ah, sorrrrry, your pick-up lines were so cheap that I thought your shoulder must be, too. I don’t have the money to pay for that, so I’ll be going now~”  
Feeling Jerome’s gaze behind him, Karma escorted Okuda away as if to guard her.  
“Uh, um, thank you.”  
“It’s fine. Let’s hurry and go over there. That guy’s gonna start stinking very soon.”  
“Eh!?”  
“I had you make that film that starts melting when it’s attached to someone, remember? I prepared some with durian kneaded into it and stuck it on Jerome’s shoulder, so he’s going to begin smelling like durian any moment now.”  
Karma stuck out his tongue. Once they were far enough Karma looked over at Jerome and chuckled. “She’d have a field day with rejecting him.”  
Okuda looked at him unsurely. Just for that sentence, his whole demeanour seemed to have changed. “Wouldn’t you be worried?”  
“Nah. She can take care of herself when it comes to stupid guys and watching her say everything’s too great to pass off. Of course if he tried something with her, it’d be a whole other story.”  
Okuda nodded. She hadn’t seen much of Cathy, only ever meeting her on the train. But the way Karma spoke of her made her seem like someone to be feared as well.  
At first, the girls of Class E had been fangirling over each and every move the globally popular star Jerome had made, but as they got used to him, his casualness began to really put them off.


	36. Stolen statue

The next day, while Terasaka was taking a breather after he had finished carrying all the lighting equipment early in the morning, he noticed several people with an imposing atmosphere. One held a duralumin case, while another was surveying the surrounding area. Furthermore, behind them was a monk wearing brilliant orange robes.  
Nathonni fidgeted restlessly as he waited for the three to approach. “So you’ve come at last. Please, allow us to see it.”  
The staff gathered as well, one after another.  
The duralumin case was placed on the table, and its lid was carefully opened. Inside was an item wrapped in white cloth, not unlike the wrappings of a mummy. The monk carefully unwrapped the cloth, revealing a golden Buddha statue with a dull gleam.  
“Oooh…!”Nathonni reflexively brought his hands together in prayer. For the sake of his film, Nathonni had borrowed the impossible, a golden Buddha statue designated as a national cultural asset. The statue had such a noble glow that the staff couldn’t help but sigh with awe, and even Kayano put her hands together in prayer.  
“This Buddha statue is several hundred years old, a precious item worshipped in one of our villages. It is also considered a work of art, a national treasure of high value. Please feel the weight of this statue. It is my hope that in your acting and filming, you bring to light its profundity.” Nathonni put his hands together to pray one more time as his eyes shone brightly.  
“Alright, let’s borrow the power of this statue and make this movie a success! You’ll be able to act realistically if you’re in front of a statue like this, right, Jerome?”  
“Whether it’s real or fake, it’s already decided that I’ll be able to play my part perfectly. Well, just watch my performance and see.”  
“Geez, your self-confidence is something else. It’d be nice if your acting skills matched that big mouth of yours.” Nathonni half-jokingly teased Jerome, making his facial expression change entirely.  
“What did you say? Do you know what happens when you make the Jerome angry?” Jerome pulled out a gun and pointed it at Nathonni.  
“W-what are you doing!? Stop!”  
A loud gunshot rang through the air. Nathonni reflexively stiffened his body, but nothing happened aside from some nitrogen smoke rising from the shell that flew.  
“Gotcha! It’s just a toy gun! So? Wasn’t my acting totally spot on?”  
“H-hey! Don’t play with the props! You’re so impossible!”  
Totally deceived and red in the face, Nathonni scolded Jerome.  
He’s so troublesome……  
Kayano made a pained expression at Jerome’s mischievous behaviour.  
“In this scene, the novel states that the inside of the ruins converts into a dungeon, but that doesn’t seem like something they can make on set,” Hazama said to Mimura.  
“Yeah. They said that they’re doing the dungeon scene at the studio.”  
“These days, CGI is becoming more and more common, and they can make replicas, not to mention the actors and staff would be nervous when handling something like a genuine Buddha statue, so wouldn’t you say that they’re handling this poorly?”  
“There’s a lot of directors who like to stick to using the real thing. There are movies like Heaven’s Gate, where they went several billion yen over their assigned budget because they had arranged for things like genuine locomotives and sliver tableware. There’s also Ask This of Rikyu, where they actually used 400-year-old tea ware designated as a national treasure, making it a very realistic but luxurious production.  
“Now that you mention it, I’ve heard of horror movies that invite genuine curses. Poltergeist activity would awaken during filming, and actors would suddenly die. Maybe something abominable will occur here as well,” Hazama said.  
“It doesn’t sound like a joke when you say it, Hazama.” Mimura felt a chill thanks to Hazama.  
“Understand? In this scene, Jerome and Rin reach the ruined temple after they read a clue left behind by her father. When they open the stone doors leading to the inside of the temple, they find the Buddha statue hidden within. It’s a scene where their pains are finally rewarded, so perform with emotional abundance without saying anything weird.”  
Nathonni emphasized this to the two of them. “Take one! Action!”  
Nathonni’s voice echoed throughout the ruins. Jerome slowly opened the stone doorway and illuminated the inside with a light. Doing so, the golden Buddha statue reflected the light back to him. Kayano, playing the part of Rin, swallowed her breath.  
“This is…… the Buddha statue father left behind!”  
“That’s amazing, damn.”  
As Jerome and Rin gazed at the brilliant statue, the director yelled “Cut!”  
“That was great! You were filled with such splendid realism!”  
However, even though he had yelled “Cut”, Kayano continued to gaze at the statue. Jerome poked fun at Kayano.  
“Hey, come on now, Haruna, do you actually want that statue? If you want it as a present from me, I’ll ask someone who I can buy it from.”  
“It’s different…… This one is different from the one we saw earlier.”  
“……What did you say?”  
“Look, the one from earlier didn’t shine like this!” Kayano took the light Jerome was holding, and illuminated the statue from various angles. “It didn’t sparkle like this! It was a duller, more refined shine!  
The staff closed in around her as she raised her voice.  
The monk, who was watching them film, lifted the statue and checked its underside. “This is…… a fake!”  
Nathonni rushed over and confirmed what he said, his face turning a sickly white. “Look for anybody suspicious who may have entered the vicinity!”  
Class E, scattered in all sorts of different departments, halted their work and gathered together. They checked with the staff from every team, but nobody had seen anybody suspicious. A member of the production team raised his hand.  
“I didn’t see anybody suspicious, but one of our production members has gone missing. A tall, thin person.”  
The staff began to whisper amongst themselves.  
“Don’t tell me, that person slipped into our staff and stole the statue…..? But how?” Nathonni was hurriedly looking around beyond the stone doors where he had placed the statue.  
“Nathonni, come here!” A member of the staff yelled. Nathonni bounded over, and was shown one of the walls of the set they had crafted. The wall that had been designed to appear as if it led into passage connecting to the back of the ruins was torn open, as if someone had passed through it.  
“Could it be that they invaded through here to steal it!?” Nathonni’s shouts echoed through the set. “Follow that production man! And contact the local police!”  
The staff got into their cars in a hurry.  
“This isn’t the time to stand around like morons and do nothing. Let’s go chase after that statue thief, too!” Everyone calmed down upon hearing Terasaka’s words.  
“At a time like this, we need to figure out exactly what happened. Let’s try passing through this wall ourselves.”  
When Fuwa passed through the break in the wall, she came out behind the set of ruins. Before her eyes was a fence that enclosed the temple site. Fuwa looked above the fence. “Look! There’s a broken tree branch hanging over the fence. Moreover, the break looks fresh. When we would play Cops and Robbers, this was one of the things Korosensei taught us about so that we wouldn’t get caught by Mister Karasuma, right?”  
“That!?”  
Fuwa’s words made the rest of Class E remember instantly. When they first started playing Cops and Robbers, they were immediately arrested by Karasuma, but while they were in prison, Korosensei had given them hints to throw off his pursuit.  
“Over here! Hurry! This time, we’re the cops!”  
Kataoka went ahead of the others and scaled the fence. Within the forest, there were many brand-new traces indicating that someone had passed by. Footprints in the mud, branches broken from being stepped on, and scraped moss all told the story of a person’s passage.  
“There’s only one set of footprints!”  
“Then, is there only one culprit?”  
“I don’t know. There might be others mobilized separately from him.”  
All the traces aimed in the same direction straight ahead. Class E ran up the slope of a low hill as they continued to follow. Isogai climbed up a tree and shouted, “There!”  
There was a savannah on the other side of the hill. There was also a man making his way across it. He looked behind him and, noticing he was being followed, took off in a panic.  
“He ran away! Everybody, after him!” Isogai commanded.  
At Isogai’s command, Okano and Kimura jumped out together. Everyone else followed behind them.  
“I will catch you!” Kayano shouted desperately.  
Jerome appeared out of nowhere and stopped Kayano.  
“This isn’t something the lead actress should have to do. The Jerome will get the statue back for you, so watch me!” Upon saying this, he passed Kayano and daringly ran down the slope.  
As the thief was trying to escape the savannah, Okano and Kimura had gotten ahead of him and were lying in wait. The man turned around to try and escape them, but Terasaka, Isogai, and Karma blocked off the escape routes behind him. With everyone cooperating with each other and chasing the man from every direction, they were able to completely surround him.  
“What’s up with you all!?” the man said as he looked around. “That’s the golden Buddha statue, right? Please hand it over quietly.”  
Isogai said as he pointed to the ajar bag he was carrying. “Just try taking this by force. Who knows what’ll happen to the statue if you do.”  
The man whistled a shrill sound.  
“This guy’s making fun of us!”  
Terasaka tried to stomp right towards him, but Isogai stopped him.  
“Wait. Let’s use a projectile weapon.”  
“A projectile weapon? Do we even have one!?”  
A ball flew from behind and grazed past Terasaka’s face. The ball Sugino threw made a sudden ark and made a direct hit on the man’s head from his blind spot.  
Isogai caught the man before he collapsed to the ground to prevent the bag from being crushed.  
“Phew, it was a close call, but we’re safe.”  
“That wasn’t a safe. More like a strike, am I right?”  
Sugino gave him a thumbs up.  
Isogai removed the white cloth wrapping to confirm the contents, revealing a golden Buddha statue.  
Its surface shimmered under the light of the sun.  
“With this, the case has been settled.”  
Yet in the moment Sugino said that, “Fwwweeet”  
A whistle rang nearby. A chain of whistling began as if in response to the first. One could see human figures flicker through the trees surrounding the savannah. Their numbers increased rapidly, a few dozen men encircling and approaching Class E. Among them was a familiar figure, the stuntman Rawan. When Rawan raised his right hand, the other men stopped dead in their tracks.  
“All of you! If you value your lives, put the statue on the ground!” Rawan yelled at Class E.  
“Rawan! Just who are you!?”  
Rawan replied to Jerome’s shout. “We’re a gang of bandits so notorious that the people of this country tremble upon hearing our name, the ‘Shishidan’!”  
“There’s this many people involved!?”  
Terasaka felt impatient. “This has become a big pain in the neck.”  
As everyone grew tense, Karma alone remained calm. “Hey, Isogai. Doesn’t this situation seem kinda familiar?”  
It suddenly hit Isogai as well. “The pole-toppling match at the sports festival!”  
“We’re greatly outnumbered, so once they have us closed off, it’s all over. First, we have to break through.”  
“Then, I’ll start by running with the statue, so anybody who’s confident in their speed should follow me! We’ll use our speed to throw off our opponents and cause confusion. Those guys will probably go after me, so those who aren’t confident in their speed should separate from me and let those at the filming site know about the bandits!”  
“Okay!” Isogai took off in an instant, breaking out of their encirclement by jumping over one of the bandit’s shoulders, and ran. Kimura, Okano, Maehara, and Kataoka, all having high mobility, followed right behind him.  
“It’s been awhile since we’ve done some free-running!”  
“Once ya get moving, your body remembers how to do it!”  
Muramatsu and Yoshida also followed suit. Terasaka and Itona followed behind them.  
Rawan responded against Class E’s movements, “Catch the one holding the statue!”  
The bandits hurriedly pursued Isogai, but Isogai, having run into the forest, climbed the trees, jumping from branch to branch and quickly disappearing from the enemy’s view. The statue was passed back and forth between Class E, making the location of the statue even more transient and perplexing to the thieves.  
As Kayano, Nagisa, and Karma were following behind Isogai, Jerome, intending to protect Kayano, complained,  
“Heeey, wait for me! You’re too fast, Haruna!”  
“If you can’t follow me, go back alone!”  
Upon being told this, Jerome desperately continued to follow Kayano.  
“Karma!” Isogai returned empty-handed.  
“What happened to the statue?”  
“I passed it to Kimura earlier. I was hoping to confuse the enemy by alternating who held it, but those guys have cornered us carefully. There’s just too many over there. They’re slowly narrowing the net around us.”  
“They also have the advantage of being more familiar with this forest than we are. If that’s the case, then simply running around will accomplish nothing. We need to counterattack. We’ll be done in if we don’t find some terrain suitable for fighting so that we can thoroughly crush our opponent.”  
Karma felt impatient. “Nagisa, lend me a bit of wisdom here…… Nagisa?”  
Although Nagisa was supposed to be right behind him, he was nowhere to be found.  
“Nagisa? Where did you go?” Karma walked as he looked around for him. Doing so, he saw Nagisa’s back hidden beyond the entangled tree branches.  
“What happened?”  
“Are these…… ruins?”  
Many stone towers and buildings stood before Nagisa’s eyes. They were eroded by the trees of the forest, becoming part of the forest itself. The trees coiled around the towers so thoroughly that it seemed as if the towers were being strangled, and one portion of the towers had completely collapsed. Faced with such an awe-inspiring sight, Nagisa was instinctively fascinated. On one of the pillars of the tower was carved several gods or buddhas with solemn expressions.  
“Amazing……”  
Nagisa was overwhelmed by those giant statues that suddenly appeared within the forest. Nagisa noticed one unusual face carved within those towers. It was the only face engraved on a brand-new pillar. It had a contour close to that of a circle, eyes nearly as small as sesame seeds, and a smile in the shape of a crescent moon.  
“Eh? ……Korosensei?”  
Seeing what Nagisa was pointing to, Karma exclaimed with a “What the heck is that!?” in surprise.  
“You can’t just arbitrarily become part of the ruins.”  
Kayano finally arrived after looking for the two of them and gazed nostalgically at the column of the tower.  
“Korosensei…… I guess he visited places like this, too.”  
Karma looked around the pillar.  
“He didn’t just make this pillar. I’m sure there’s something else here, too.”  
Nagisa walked around the relics that made one feel the flow of time and saw a large object beyond the tower. It was a slightly dirtied, dome-like object. He faced in front of the object to confirm its identity, realizing that the yellow dome was shaped into Korosensei’s face.  
The dome, large enough to rival a planetarium, received a fair amount of erosion in these past three years, with plants crawling around its surface, adhering their vine-like roots. Someday, after many months and years have passed, it, too, will become part of the forest.  
Standing in front of the part of the building corresponding to Korosensei’s mouth, Nagisa noticed that one of the teeth was, in fact, a door. Nagisa’s feet dug into the grass as he gripped its handle and opened it.  
“Hey, isn’t this place suspicious? Wouldn’t it be better if you didn’t go in?”  
Leaving the fearful Jerome behind, Nagisa entered the dome.  
Nagisa fumbled around and turned on the lights near the entrance, revealing a normal looking, house-like interior. First, there was an entranceway. Nagisa and the others stepped up and opened the door at the end of the corridor, revealing a spacious room. The floor was buried under toys and other miscellaneous goods scattered all over. Furthermore, a TV, a tea table, fans, and other goods necessary for one’s livelihood were scattered about. Everything was coated with a thin layer of dust.  
Nagisa was startled by a phantom sound at his feet. He picked up the source of the sound from the floor, a whoopee cushion.  
“He had things like this?”  
“Over here, too!”  
What Kayano was holding was a rough-looking water gun in the shape of a machine gun. They also excavated fireworks, games, candy, sticker collections, and more, one after another.  
“Aah, this is totally the room of an absolutely no good human being.”  
Karma threw away a bag of sweets.  
“In other words, this building…… is one of Korosensei’s hideouts?”  
“Probably…… It looks like sensei had rest stops all around the world.”  
“Although, for a hideout, isn’t the design too self-assertive? It’s kind of painful. Instead of a ‘painful car’, it’s a ‘painful house’.”  
“Aha ha, you’re right.”  
While Nagisa was laughing, Isogai and the others also entered the room.  
“Woah, what’s up with this room?”  
“His material desires shine through here, huh?”  
“Is this a hideout for when he wants to be a good-for-nothing? Geez, he’s so careless!”  
They all wanted to say these things in front of the face of the room’s owner.  
“This is so nostalgic.”  
Yoshida picked up a piece of candy and examined it closely. The room was flooded with goods that were popular three years ago, the year they spent with Korosensei.  
While everyone was still in astonishment, Okajima stared down with a sharp eye a corridor which continued to the back. He staggered forward by himself, relying on his sense of smell, and discovered an erotic magazine room, with dirty magazines displayed all over the walls.  
“How divine……” Okajima gazed at the magazines displayed on the wall as if he wanted to devour them, and with a quivering hand, took hold of one.  
“T-this is… the big-boobed gravure idol who recently got pulled into the TV industry! Aren’t gravure compilations of OOO with such extreme exposure actually really rare…..!? Aah, this is bold swimsuit gravure of ΔΔΔ, who’s now a regular in the film industry……This is a sanctuary!” Itona also looked around and admired the walls.  
“These are all women who were no-names three years ago and have recently had their big breakthroughs. That octopus had a frighteningly discerning eye for the future of those with big boobs.”  
During this conversation only for men who understand each other, the others who were left behind were being drawn away.  
“Everyone, come here!”  
Everyone gathered in the direction of Kataoka’s voice. There was a decorated panel on the wall of the room they were lead to. It was covered with photographs taken of everyone in Class E, all holding their guns. They were all life-sized.  
“This was... when we were all aiming at Korosensei.”  
“Yeah…… I didn’t know he took a picture of that.”  
Memories of their time spent with Korosensei rose to the mind’s surface of each and every member of the Assassination Classroom. That they would reunite in a place like this could only be ascribed to “fate”.  
“This isn’t the time to be standing around immersed in our memories. It’s good that we were able to hide here, but sooner or later the bandits will find this place and attack. Let’s look for something we can use to oppose them.”  
“You say that, but there’s nothing but junk here…” Kataoka’s words contained a hint of resignation. Karma picked up a toy slot machine and examined it closely. “That’s not the case, you know? There’s a lot of things we can use.”  
Karma had caught a mouse and held it in his hand. “There’s a lot of bandits, and I can only come up with so many ideas. You all think of something, too.”  
“Yeah!”  
Isogai’s and the others’ voices reverberated within Korosensei’s painful house. The Buddha statue was placed to rest in the shrine of the dirty magazines while Class E steadily gathered things to use as they hunted through the piles of rubbish.  
Kimura, holding the bag that had held the Buddha statue, checked his surroundings carefully as he left Korosensei’s painful house. He advanced forward as he hid behind the trees. However, just as he tried to pass by one of the large fig trees, he found two bandits standing before him.  
“Found ‘em!”  
“Crap!”  
He used his speed to shake them off, but as he was trying to return the way he came, two more bandits appeared and trapped Kimura in. He hurried up a large tree and jumped from branch to branch, but the bandits continued to follow his shadow on the ground.  
“Those guys are persistent!”  
The men let out a shrill whistle. Even more of their comrades gathered, building up a net surrounding Kimura. Kimura shouted in English to those on the ground, “Try catching me if you can!”  
Hearing his provocation, the bandits furiously chased after Kimura. Just as Kimura’s legs were beginning to fail him and three of the bandits were catching up, the three all tripped at the same time. They were caught by a trap, a taut jump rope.  
“You bastards aren’t the only ones doing an ambush!” Terasaka said with a swagger. Beside him, Muramatsu laughed with a “gishishishi”. They tied the bandits up with the jump rope.  
Rawan became furious at Class E’s counterattack.  
“Don’t let the notorious Shishidan be put down by a bunch of brats! Use your weapons! Capture them all this instant, and get back that golden statue!”  
All at once, the bandits took out huge, butcher’s knife-like swords and began their counterattack.  
Terasaka and the others took down bandits one by one with an instant trap they made using insect nets and fishing tools, but they had no choice but to retreat when the bandits began using their swords. “Crap! We’ve lured enough of them here, so let’s help Kimura out and head back!”  
They gathered together with Kimura and ran inside Korosensei’s painful house.  
“I won’t let you get away!!” Rawan and the other bandits rushed in.  
It was pitch-black inside. Many people had packed themselves in at once, so the bandits were all crowded tight within the space of the room.  
“Turn on the lights!”  
The thieves fumbled against the walls as they looked for a switch.  
“Ouch!”  
Somebody yelped in pain. A mouse was hanging off his finger, pinching down with all its strength.  
“Hey! Hasn’t somebody found the lights yet!?”  
Just as one of the bandits yelled this out, sounds of something rupturing began to go off here and there.  
“Gyaah!!”  
“My eyes! They’re burning!!”  
This time, it was a sharp cry. What ruptured upon hitting the bandits’ eyes were water balloons left behind by Karma, who filled them with water mixed with Phnon’s specialty, hot chilli peppers. Class E started pelting the bandits with their balloon bombs.  
“Are you making fun of us, you damn brats!? The water’s coming from over there! Charge!” Rawan forced his subordinates to charge forward. The sound of their boots resounded as they rushed ahead, flinching as they were shot with powerful water guns containing chilli pepper water. “Damn it all! They’re making fools of us!!”  
The lights turned on in an instant. What awaited the bandits was Class E, all of them wielding guns. Faced with the muzzles of so many guns, the bandits were frightened instantly.  
“It’s a trap!” The moment Rawan yelled out, the bodies of every bandit instantly began to float in the air. The floor had come out from beneath them, and they all fell to the bottom of the pit.  
“We did it!!”  
“Alriiiiiiiiight!!”  
Class E revealed themselves, looking down at the bandits who fell down the pitfall in delight.  
“No matter how you look at it, this has to be a hole Korosensei used in his simulations to devise countermeasures against pitfalls, huh?”  
“Korosensei was weak against pitfalls, wasn’t he?”  
“Putting that panel with those photos of all of us around this hole really makes you feel like you’re being aimed at, too!”  
“So Korosensei used measures as desperate as this. It’s no wonder we were almost unable to kill him.”  
Kataoka smiled at Isogai as she recalled the days when they worked on Korosensei’s assassination.  
“But to think we’d find traces of Korosensei at a time like this…… This brings back all sorts of memories from that class, right, Kayano?”  
Nagisa looked around, but although Kayano was next to him just a moment ago, she was nowhere to be found. “Kayano?”  
“Nagi-“  
Nagisa turned around sharply, certain he heard her call his name. The voice had been silenced mid-sentence.


	37. Taken hostage

“Kayano!?” Feeling a sense of apprehension, Nagisa immediately headed toward the direction of the voice and rushed out of Korosensei’s house.  
There, Rawan was standing with one of his minions. He held Kayano, who was tied up, by his side as he brandished a sword with his other hand.  
“Kayano!” The sight made Nagisa grow pale. The rest of Class E who had followed behind him also froze in place.  
“I’d love to kill her, but I’ll forgive all of you if you give me that golden statue!”  
The ground itself seemed to tremble as Rawan shouted.  
“No! You can’t hand over the statue! I’m fine, so just finish him off!”  
Rawan began strangling her in response to Kayano’s shouts, making her groan in pain. He then raised his sword and threatened,  
“Hand over the statue or I’ll cut off her head!”  
Nagisa turned and looked at Isogai. Isogai was carrying the bag containing the statue along his shoulder.  
“Isogai… I’m sorry, but please hand him the statue.”  
“…There’s no need to apologize, Nagisa. There’s no other choice.” Nagisa received the bag from Isogai, advanced forward, and presented it before Rawan.  
“…With this, will you please release-  
Before he even finished speaking, Rawan kicked him in the face. His body spun from the momentum of the kick.  
“Nagisa!!” Kayano screamed.  
Rawan laughed scornfully as his subordinate picked up the bag containing the statue that had fallen to the ground.  
“Hey, you promised us! Give Kayano back!” Maehara yelled. However, Rawan continued to hold Kayano, giving no indication that he would let her go.  
“I can make big money if I sell this actress away on the black-market. I’ll take this as payment for giving me a hard time.”  
“What!?”  
Seeing that he broke his promise, they all tried to pursue him, but they stopped when they saw Rawan thrust his sword toward Kayano’s throat. That is, except for one person.  
“Hey, this is as far as you go!! Put down the sword and raise your hands nice and slow!!”  
The one who shouted this out was Jerome. He was aiming his gun at Rawan from three meters away.  
“Too bad. It’s already decided that _the_ Jerome will beat down the bandits and save the heroine at last!”  
He had already set his heart on his victory lines with a triumphant air, but Rawan wasn’t worried at all, firing off a step kick as he continued to hold onto Kayano.  
“Geh!?”  
Unable to see the kick that stretched toward him beyond the range he had expected, Jerome’s stomach took a direct hit, making him faint. The model gun prop fell from his hand to the ground.  
“You thought you could win against me? A fake hero with a fake gun?”  
Rawan handed Kayano over to his subordinate, carrying the statue as he held his sword in a martial arts stance, and they swiftly made their escape. Seeing this, Terasaka impatiently exchanged looks with his comrades.  
_Shit. That guy is seriously tough…… As an added bonus, he even took Kayano hostage, so there was nothing we could do._  
It was obvious to everyone that at the rate things were going, both the statue and Kayano would easily be snatched away from them.  
“W……ait……”  
Nagisa, still down from being kicked, used all his strength to lift his face and call out.  
“Nagisa, don’t come any closer! I can get myself out of this!”  
Kayano cried out to Nagisa. Nagisa understood that Kayano words weren’t truthful. Kayano always preferred killing herself and working for other people’s sake. Even when she pretended to be a weak student while she had the tentacles buried within her, even when she acted as backup and supported her classmates’ assassination attempts from the shadows, even when her classmates were targeted by the second god of death, Kayano was always like that.  
Even now, she put aside the fact she was in danger and, worried for Nagisa and the others, refused any help. Nagisa, who had watched Kayano up-close from the closest seat beside her, understood this very well.  
_I can’t just leave you behind, Kayano. Not the classmate who has always been beside me._  
Nagisa somehow managed to stand up after borrowing Karma’s shoulder. While the group was unable to interfere, the enemy continued his escape. Karma called out to Rawan,  
“Heeey, do you think you can escape safely like that? Unless you release her, we’ll follow you wherever you go, and if that happens, we’ll expose your secret hideout, you know?”  
Rawan sneered at the idea that they had any chance of succeeding and proceeded through the jungle. The sound of a distant helicopter approached him.  
“Is he planning to make his escape using a helicopter!?”  
Agitated, Isogai looked up at the sky. While Class E continued to be wary of approaching him due to their concern for Kayano and their alertness toward his sword and high-speed kicks, Rawan, familiar with every tree, entered a set of ruins buried in the jungle. When he swung his sword to the sky inside the courtyard, the helicopter appeared over the sky. A rope ladder fell down from it.  
“There’ll be a gap in his defences when he carries Kayano up the ladder. Let’s use that chance to attack!”  
While they were tracking Rawan, Karma had given out instructions to each of his comrades. So as not to miss that gap, Nagisa lowered his head and motionlessly aimed for his chance like a snake aiming for its prey.  
Keeping the ladder down, the helicopter lowered its altitude. Finally, the rope ladder reached the courtyard of the ruins. With Kayano on his shoulder, Rawan’s subordinate grabbed onto the ladder first and carefully started climbing one step at a time.  
Rawan stood beside the ladder and took on an imposing stance, threatening the others with his sword. All Class E could do was remain at their positions. They couldn’t approach the helicopter carelessly.  
After his subordinate climbed about three meters up, Rawan bade them farewell and grabbed onto the ladder as well. He jerked his chin up, raised his head, and yelled,  
“Rise!!”  
With his command, the helicopter began to rise. At exactly that moment,  
“Itona!”  
“OK.”  
Isogai turned his back toward the ladder, put his hands together, and waited for Itona. Itona ran, using Isogai’s hands as a stepping stone.  
Isogai tossed Itona into the air. He flew through the air like a missile, jumping over Rawan and reaching below his minion’s feet.  
“What!?”  
Unable to grab onto Rawan’s subordinate, Itona clicked his tongue as he landed. However, his landing made the rope shake vigorously, and in Rawan’s, his subordinate’s, and his pilot’s shock at their enemy’s unexpected appearance, a momentary gap was born.  
“Now!”  
The assassins of Class E rushed for the ladder. Although Rawan was already one meter in the air, Yoshida and Muramatsu grabbed onto both his feet.  
“Give Kayano back!!”  
Okano jumped off Maehara’s back. With both hands on the ladder and his sword, Rawan was unable to defend himself. He took many kicks to his blind spot from Okano and, unable to endure them, fell.  
The bag containing the Buddha statue separated from Rawan. Okajima dived without a moments delay, protecting the statue from the fall.  
“You shitty brats! Have you come to have a death match with me!?”  
The instant Rawan stood up and tried to take a stance with his sword, Kataoka kicked the sword from his hand. The sword made a harsh sound as it rolled along the stone ground. In a flash, Terasaka gave the unarmed Rawan a full body tackle from behind and knocked him down.  
All Rawan’s could see as he lay face down on the ground was one of Karma’s feet. Karma swung his other foot high over Rawan’s head.  
“Too bad. An assassin kills his opponent before bothering with a death match.”  
A dull sound reverberated through the air. Karma dropped his heel and kicked Rawan at the top of his head, making Rawan faint, head buried in the soil.  
Around the same time, Nagisa had jumped onto the ladder’s bottom rung. The ladder swung widely like a pendulum from the weight of Nagisa’s body. While the subordinate carrying Kayano was distracted by Nagisa, Sugino threw a stone and hit the subordinate’s temple, causing his arms to relax his grip on Kayano.  
“Kayano, get away!”  
Kayano twisted her body under her restraints, slipping out of the subordinate’s arms. Her eyes met with Nagisa’s the moment her body jumped out into the air. Believing in him, she closed her eyes and entrusted herself to gravity.  
The moment it seemed she would crash into the ground, Kayano fell into Nagisa’s arms. Nagisa was only barely able to stop the blow, and, unable to stop the momentum, they both fell to the ground.  
At the same time, the helicopter above got into an accident. Its orbit was shaken by what was happening on the rope ladder, causing it to get caught in a tree that grew from the ruins.  
“Uwaaaaaaah!”  
The low altitude helicopter lost its balance. It knocked down the surrounding trees and fell toward the back of the forest. Rawan’s subordinate and pilot took strong blows to each of their bodies, so they fell unconscious.  
For a while, Nagisa and Kayano lay atop each other after falling, still in a daze.  
Shortly thereafter, Nagisa showed Kayano a bitter smile.  
“I’m sorry. I wasn’t able to catch you properly.”  
Kayano shook her head.  
“No, I wouldn’t say that at all.”  
“Are you injured? Did anything get hit?”  
“I’m alright. I’ve trained myself for things like this.”  
Everyone rushed over, cheering.  
“That was awesome!”  
“That just now was straight out of a Hollywood movie!”  
They jostled Nagisa and quickly released Kayano from her restraints. Okano hugged Kayano as everyone came over and surrounded her, happy to see she was safe. Amongst them all, Nagisa was the only one who remained tense.  
_The atmosphere shifted just now._  
Nagisa turned around toward the tremendous bloodlust he felt behind him. Rawan had revived, approaching as he looked at everyone with rage. Nagisa picked up the sword Rawan had dropped and got into a guarded stance. Rawan felt contempt upon seeing the small Nagisa act as if he intended to fight back.  
“Know your place!”  
The waves of Rawan’s increasing anger were blaringly transmitted. Nagisa waited for the peak of that wave to approach. Nagisa’s heartbeat resonated with Rawan’s wavelength.  
Rawan turned his waist, his breath halting for an instant as he prepared to unleash his footwork. In that instant, Nagisa let go of the sword.  
“……!?”  
Rawan’s eyes followed the falling sword, lured in by it. Aiming for that greatest gap in his consciousness, Nagisa let a clap burst from his hands right before Rawan’s eyes.  
It was the nekodamashi, a powerful, special technique Nagisa had used countless times in the Assassination Classroom.  
With the sound of his clap, Rawan’s consciousness was cut off, and he fell forward.  
It had been a long time since he had been in a real battle, so he was unprepared for his technique to work so perfectly. Unable to dodge the giant falling toward him, Nagisa was utterly squashed.  
“Ngyh!?”  
Karma and the others hurriedly tore Rawan off Nagisa and tightly restrained him.  
“ – Nagisa, Nagisa!”  
Kayano called out to Nagisa, waking him up. Nagisa was so powerless that he couldn’t even struggle under the large Rawan, so his breathing had become faint, but somehow, he was still woken up.  
“Nagisa!! Are you okay!?”  
“Ughh…To make a blunder like that at the very last moment……I’m so sloppy.”  
“It was all thoroughly recorded with 8k resolution. Nagisa, I’m sorry, but there’s no take-two.”  
Ritsu said lightly after seeing everything through Kataoka’s breast pocket, making everyone’s smiles return at once.  
“Hey! The Buddha statue’s also in one piece!”  
“Thank goodness~, if its neck or something had broken, we would’ve received divine punishment!”  
Muramatsu and Yoshida breathed a sigh of relief. Then, Isogai excitedly said,  
“I’m so glad we were all able to kill together again after so many years!”  
As everyone excitedly clamoured around Isogai, Kayano approached Nagisa.  
“Thank you for saving me.”  
“You don’t need to thank me…… I can’t do things perfectly like Korosensei yet.”  
“That’s not true,” Kayano whispered in her heart. In her eyes, Nagisa stood on the same plane as Korosensei. Both were heroes who saved her whenever she was in a pinch. _I can’t allow myself to only be rescued. I have to advance forward on my own._


	38. Lights, camera, action!

“We’ll start filming in 10 minutes! Hurry it up with your preparations!” Nathonni raised his voice through a megaphone. The art group was busy working to reproduce an authentic-looking street of food stalls. Sugaya, too, worked as a member of the art group, painting one of the stalls so that a feeling of livelihood could be felt.  
Kimura, Isogai, Kataoka, Okano, and Maehara, the members of Class E who were particularly confident in their physical abilities, hurried to put on their costumes in the waiting room. After hearing about Class E’s efforts to recover the golden Buddha statue from Jerome, the director suddenly decided to add another scene. It was a scene where ninjas who pursued Rin from Japan have a showdown with Jerome, a scene that was once rejected because they didn’t have enough stuntmen. He offered to have Class E play the part of the ninja group.  
Knowing that he was about to take part in an action scene, Kimura was itching with excitement as he checked out the ninja costumes, which Hara helped make. Karma peeped in on the five ninja figures as they waited in the waiting room.  
“Westerners really like having ninjas appear for no reason, huh~ But if it’s that director, it may end up being interesting after all, so I’m looking forward to this, too.”  
“I’m jealous of you, Karma. If word got out that you did the stunts for Jerome the heartthrob, you’d be soooo popular with the girls!” The idea was very like Maehara. Thanks to Jerome’s injuries, he was unable to complete his action scenes, and because Karma could move well and had a build similar to Jerome’s, Karma was selected to be his stuntman. Karma being Karma, he looked calm on the surface, but, in truth, he was thrilled that he was going to perform in one of director Nathonni’s films.  
Karma shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I already have the girl I want.”  
“Karma, you’re really happy, aren’t you? Even if you try to hide it, I can still tell.” Nagisa saw through Karma’s heart.  
“Not really.” Karma had a broad grin as he said this.  
Nathonni broadcasted his orders through his megaphone. “Okay, take-one! Action!”  
Mimura, who was appointed as the assistant director in charge of directing the extras on-site, received Nathonni’s orders and made a large motion with his hand.  
“Action! Walk!”  
People acting as passersby’s began walking back and forth along the street. Those stationed at the food stalls also began acting. Karma, acting in place of Jerome, and Kayano, acting as Rin, ran through the area. They made it look as if they were running away in a hurry. Behind them, ninjas hiding themselves behind their masks and black clothing were following in pursuit. The ninjas made use of their agility as they jumped over the pedestrians and ran atop the food stalls, and, in the blink of an eye, they caught up to and surrounded the pair.  
“Cut! Magnificent! That was even better than I had imagined!” Nathonni cried out in excitement. “But why in the world are you all so physically capable?”  
Kurahashi, who was observing beside the director, puffed out her chest as she answered. “Our P.E. teacher in middle school was super strict! If you ever saw his superhuman moves, you’d totally offer him a job~”  
When it became time to re-shoot the kiss scene that Kayano had messed up repeatedly, Nathonni anticipated that Kayano would be nervous, so he urged the staff to work quietly. Sensitively feeling such an air around her, she continuously told herself to concentrate. However, when rumour got around that the two stars’ kiss scene was about to be filmed the crowd of onlookers became even larger than usual.  
“Quietly, quietly.” Mimura told the locals in English and through his gestures to try not to make a sound. However, it turned out that such a thing wouldn’t be so easy.  
As many trainees gathered around the filming location in a hubbub, Nagisa silently distanced himself.  
“Nagisa, where are you going? The filming site is that way.” Karma caught Nagisa.  
“I was thinking that I should try not to disturb Kayano.”  
“You’re the one who said that Kayano’s blade isn’t so fragile. What are you going to do if you don’t put your faith in her here?”  
“…Also, when I watch Kayano’s kiss scene with Jerome, I feel really anxious.”  
“Ooh? And why is that?”  
“Because of her work, Kayano’s in a frightening world where it’s impossible to know just what might happen, right?”  
“Well…… I guess.”  
“If by chance she were to get involved with a lewd beast like that and have her career as an actress adversely affected in the future…… when I imagine such a thing, supporting her in person feels so complicated.”  
Karma burst out laughing when he heard Nagisa refer to the new Hollywood star as a “lewd beast”. He didn’t know if Nagisa was saying this as a friend, as something like a parent, as a fan, or as something else entirely, but Karma knew that for Nagisa, too, the fact that Kayano is a special, precious existence will never change. “Look, instead of chatting here, let’s go watch her. If you’re going to support her, you have to watch her properly with your own eyes.” Karma grabbed Nagisa’s shoulders and forcibly pulled him along.  
At the filming site, Kayano and Jerome were already standing in position. Kayano stood with a nervous expression, straining to keep her concentration from breaking. In contrast, Jerome was staring at her with a smirk on his face. This was because out of all the girls he has done a kiss scene with, every single one of them had fallen for him.  
“Action!”  
The scene began with lines from Rin.  
“You’re only in it for the money!”  
“Yeah. I do love money. But you know, there are other things I love besides money!”  
“Like what!?”  
At Rin’s strong response, Jerome grabbed both her shoulders.  
“You.”  
Jerome closed in on Rin’s lips, and gave her a bold, masterful kiss. _When I release my lips, Haruna’s gonna be looking at me with lovey-dovey eye-_  
At that moment, Rin slapped him.  
Stunned, Jerome reflexively held his cheek, but Rin removed his hand and kissed that same cheek.  
“Don’t just steal my lips as you please! With this, we’re even.”  
Jerome stared at Rin, eyes open wide. Rin’s lively smile stood in stark contrast against his expression, inspiring even greater interest in the audience to witness their adventure.  
“Hey, don’t space out on me! We need to go retrieve my father’s Buddha statue!”  
As Jerome’s face returned to its original whiteness after the slap, Rin pulled Jerome’s arm and led him forward.  
“Cut! Haruna, your ad-lib was the best!” Nathonni was roaring with laughter as he praised Kayano. Jerome, on the other hand, looked as if he wanted to protest.  
“D-director! Doesn’t this totally go against the script!?”  
“Yup, it does. Haruna proposed the idea to me, telling me, ‘Rin is a determined, unyielding character, so having her be swayed by a single kiss from a man is way too simplistic. I want to add to this scene.’ However, never in my wildest dreams did I think that suddenly slapping you would be her ad-lib! I’m in awe!”  
“Wai- but you treated my ad-libs like a joke! Director, you’re laughing way too much!”  
“Jerome, your talent is in your reactions to other people’s ad-libs. You can check the video we recorded just now. Your expression is first-class, which maximizes the charm of your character.”  
“……”  
In fact, the director’s eyes were on the mark. Later on, the comical expression Jerome made in this scene was highly acclaimed, expanding his range as an actor.  
_What a woman… She didn’t change a single line, and yet with just one slap, she doubled the liveliness of the whole scene._  
Checking the video, Jerome was astonished at Kayano’s acting sense, which made both of them shine. It was as if she were a killer wearing an actor’s skin. If he were to get lazy on his acting, he, the protagonist, would be devoured. He figured he should stop trying to flirt with her for a while…… For the rest of the time they were filming, he looked so serious that one would have thought his life depended on his acting.  
When Kayano returned to the waiting room, Class E suddenly encircled around her.  
“That was so good! He’s a bad guy, but you straightened him up!!”  
“That slap wasn’t in the script, right!? Was that what you’d call an ad-lib?”  
“Although, considering that the script was set for you to be all lovey-dovey from one kiss, that slap is quite the sudden change. The director took it well.”  
“Kukuku, we laid the groundwork.”  
With their plan complete, Hazama and Fuwa laughed.  
“It’s a common thing for screenplays based on great novels to lay down such undisguised opportunism. Even when the original novel isn’t a love story, they employ cheap developments such as that. In the original novel, the charm of Rin’s character is supposed to be her unshakable, strong heart.”  
Fuwa nodded approvingly at Hazama’s opinion.  
“And that’s precisely why it’s better to make use of her self-assured character! I told the director that when we were eating.”  
“The director didn’t take it as bad as I thought he would. It sounds like the producers were pushing for it since it was written by a screenwriter they had sponsored, but it seems he was unsatisfied with the script. Right, Mimura?”  
“Yup. As the director, changing the script is easy if he gets onboard with Kayano’s ad-lib. In Hollywood, it’s fine if the final product takes a 180 degree turn by the time filming is complete and editing begins.”  
“So, taking the director’s responses to three different people as a hint, I decided to try acting the way you saw earlier. I wasn’t sure if he was going to give me the okay, though.”  
Kayano smiled wryly.  
Kayano left behind her classmates, still talking enthusiastically about the script, to get a drink when she spotted Nagisa, who was standing there with his mouth agape.  
“Nagisa! What did you think about my acting!?”  
“……It was amazing. Maybe I’m just stating the obvious, but…… the one standing there was Rin, not Kayano. You kissed with Rin’s heart and words, then returned to being the usual Kayano. I guess that’s what acting is.”  
“It depends on the actor, but I leave my role behind the second I hear the word ‘cut’. After all, the everyday me is the everyday me! I don’t want to take my work home with me.”  
Once again, Nagisa couldn’t help but respect Kayano’s high level of professionalism. He felt ashamed of himself for the unneeded concern he was feeling just moments ago.  
“So, so, how was Jerome’s kiss? Was it good? Was it, was it?”  
Nakamura laid bare her trashy heart as she asked Kayano.  
“Hmmm, I guess it’s because I’ve felt Professor Bitch’s kisses, but I thought it was nothing special.”  
Everyone went into a bustle at her response.  
“Ooh~ After facing off against a Hollywood star, our Kayano has said it herself!”  
Nakamura stirred things up even more.  
To press for an answer to his questions, Karma poked fun at the two of them as he observed them closely.  
“And yet Nagisa was so worried that you’d go all lovey-dovey over Jerome’s kissing technique~”  
“Wai- Karma!”  
As Nagisa panicked, Kayano reacted sensitively,  
“You’re horrible! You thought I’d brainlessly get hooked by a goofy show-off like that!?”  
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”  
Nagisa was being tormented from all sides.  
“Nagisa, go apologize!”  
“You’re treating Kayano like a bitch!”  
“I’m really sorry!”  
Seeing Nagisa put his hands together in apology, Kayano recalled the Nagisa of three years ago.  
Nagisa had apologized in the same way after saving her with his kiss when the tentacles were killing her. At that moment, Kayano was shot through the heart, and Nagisa has kept her stolen heart since then. Even now, no matter how popular the actor, no matter how skilfully she is kissed, they will never compare to the kiss her junior high school classmate risked his life to give her.  
_He hasn’t noticed yet, has he……? Just how fearsome a killer he is._  
The bitter smile Kayano let escape was quickly replaced by a genuine smile as she witnessed the liveliness of her classmates, unchanged since back then. She returned to her circle of friends, who were all messing with Nagisa once more.  
Everyone laughed together, hugging each other’s shoulders and joking around as the crumbled crescent moon rose above them. It was as if it wished to continue watching over those students, as if there were still more to come.  
Class 3-E is the Assassination Classroom.  
Tomorrow, as well, the morning bell would ring.


	39. Return from Phnom

Once Karma came back he went straight to Cathy’s apartment. He hadn’t told her what time he would be arriving, he had wanted to surprise her. Alex opened the door with a smile and said that Cathy was actually still sleeping.  
Karma shook his head. “Guess I’m gonna have to wake her up then.”  
Alex gave him a look exuding approval and let him in.  
It was weird, he had been in her room, but had never seen her sleep before apart from sometimes on his shoulder. And yet here he was, ready to wake her up. He wondered what he could do. Like with the sleeping beauty or something else? A plotting smile appeared on his face. He turned back to Alex. “Hey, you got any smelly herbs or something?”  
Alex frowned slightly and gave him a pot. “If she kicks you out, it’s your own fault.”  
“Oh, I know. But I have a feeling she won’t.” He snuck into her room and saw the dim light from the window illuminating her. She looked so happily peaceful that he honestly wouldn’t have minded seeing her like that for longer. But there were more important things to do. He crouched by her bed and opened the pot. He saw her inhale and suddenly cough. He couldn’t help but laugh.  
She got up and glared at him, a sinister smile on her face. “You think that’s funny, hey, Karma?”  
He shrugged. “Yeah. Best reaction so far if I say so myself.”  
She fell back onto her bed. “Why did I fall for someone like you?” She turned her head towards him. “What you even doing here?”  
“Come to say I’m back.”  
She squinted. “Yeah. I see that. Welcome back. But what I’m asking, Karma, is: what are you doing in my room?”  
“I wanted to surprise you.”  
She smiled faintly and rolled her eyes. “That you most definitely did. Did you have fun?”  
“Yes. And,” he picked something up, “I got the DVD for the movie.”  
“Cool. We’ll watch it when I’m ready. Not get out of my room before my grogginess turns into anger.”  
“Yes, ma’am.” He saluted her and left with his usual smile and eyes that she seriously couldn’t help but love.  
She turned around and covered her face in her pillow, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Dammit, what am I gonna do with you?” She quickly got up and changed and had her breakfast. While she was eating Karma was sitting opposite her, quietly admiring her with a smile.  
She shyly looked away. “Did you get to meet him?”  
“Yeah. And I made a good impression on him with my English knowledge and other stuff.”  
She smiled at him warmly. “That’s good. I wish I could’ve seen that.”  
“Yeah. Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to take any pictures.”  
“That makes sense. What about that actor, Jerome?”  
Karma chuckled. “Oh, he was something else.”  
Her smile brightened. “Don’t tell me you pranked him.”  
“He had it coming, so yeah, I did.”  
“What did he do?”  
“Simply put, he tried to hit on all the girls of the class.”  
“That most definitely indicates that he had it coming. What’d you do?”  
The mischief in his eyes increased. “I put a film with durian on his shoulder which melts once it’s stuck to something.”  
She laughed. “Durian’s that smelly stuff, right?”  
He nodded.  
She grinned, the same light having entered hers. “I would’ve paid good money to see that all happening.”  
“Shame we probably won’t have the chance again.”  
“True. College’s coming up and we need to concentrate. You mainly,” she said, pointing with her implements at him.  
“Why’d you say that, dear?”  
“’Cause you’re the laziest of us two.”  
“It’ll change. Don’t worry.”  
“Sure,” Cathy said, not entirely convinced, but still hoped that it was true. After a bit she asked, "And what about his looks? Is he as good looking in real life?"  
"Ah, not really my type."  
She snorted. "You actually have a type?"  
He smiled at her. "Sure. Don't see why not."  
She shook her head in disbelief. "Fine." She moved her mouth around in thought. When she realised something, she started silently giggling.  
"What's so funny, sweetheart?"  
"Is it also guys that you would consider 'cute'? I'd presume smaller than you as well."  
He played around with her hair and leant back in his chair. "Guess you could say that."  
She smiled at him amused. "So the great demon actually has a type."  
He chuckled. "You're saying it like you don't."  
She rubbed her head tiredly. "Yep. Absolute idiots."  
Once breakfast was over, she brushed her teeth and sat in the sofa next to Karma. The film was really enjoyable, like Nathonni’s previous movies, but something seemed off. Whenever the main character had to do something physical, the features seemed different, more recognisable. She looked beside her at the person with his arm over her shoulder. “Karma,” she said quietly.  
“Yes?” he said, turning to her.  
She looked at the main character jumping through the forest and pointed at him. “That’s you, right?”  
“Wow, you really know me well.” He looked at the screen. “Especially from that angle, it appears.”  
Instead of responding, she just rolled her eyes. “How’d you get the job? I thought he did his own stunts.”  
“He got hurt. By none other than his own fault. And because we have a similar build, I was fit for the job.”  
“So you actually got to work under Nathonni.” She looked at him with a proud smile.  
He turned around and smiled shyly. “Yeah.”  
She giggled. “Gods, that’s cute. You’re having your own little fanboy moment. But I really am happy for you, Karma, and proud.”  
“Let’s just continue the movie.”  
“Yes, sir.” She said and turned her attention back to the screen.


	40. First time

The couple eventually decided to move in together. They had enough money and since their colleges would be closer that way, they had come up with the idea.  
Even after all this time, Karma’s father still refused to see Cathy sober. His mother had eventually come over and apologised a million times to Cathy, who had accepted and befriended her to a certain extent.  
The move to the new apartment had been tiring, though kind of fun to the couple. At one point, before everything had arrived, Karma had even suggested building a fort, which Cathy had first laughingly said no to, but in the end she had agreed.  
That had been a few hours ago. Now Cathy was pacing around in her room, looking at the bed. She sighed and called her friend.  
The moment Anjerika picked up, Cathy said desperately, “Anjerika, I need your help.”  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing. Um … well I guess not really nothing, but um … can you please come over?”  
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll be there in a sec.”  
Minutes later Anjerika was at the door, panting. “This place might be closer to your universities, but so much further than my house.”  
Cathy frowned in apology. “Sorry. I didn’t mean for you to run here or anything.”  
She took one last deep breath before straightening herself up. “You need me, so of course I’m running over. What’s wrong?” She looked around her. “And where’s Karma?”  
“Shop. Just for essentials.”  
She nodded. “Makes sense. Sooo?”  
Cathy led her to the bedroom and indicated the bed. She tried fishing for words while making a nervous sound. Eventually the only proper words out of her mouth were, “So, you know…”  
Anjerika looked at her amused. “You nervous of your first night with him?” She couldn’t help but laugh. “Even though you’re constantly together, you’ve never actually slept in the same bed before.”  
A small blush had started forming on her cheeks. “Sometimes on his shoulder. But you know, there was never a right time. And you know Alex would have lost it either way.”  
“That she would have,” she said through a chuckle. “So what you so nervous about? You trust each other and I’m sure he wouldn’t do anything you don’t want. Pretty sure the person he respects the most in this world.”  
“I wouldn’t say that. Maybe second place,” she said in a small voice.  
Anjerika looked at her confused. “Who’s number one?”  
She shook her head, now with an uncomfortable look on her face. “Not important. It’s not that, it’s um … what if …” With each word, her face was becoming redder and redder.  
Anjerika’s smiled at her sympathetically. “Oh, my sweet summer child. Of course. Though I’m sure that’s probably his biggest worry as well.” She stroked her reddened face. “But you know, the general thing is, you two have been so close to each other in different ways.” She laughed. “You’ve even sat on his lap before and nothing’s happened. Just look at it as being close to him while also lying down. And if you don’t like something, just tell him. We all know he’ll respect whatever you have to say.”  
Tears had started forming in her eyes. She hugged her friend. “Thank you.”  
“Of course. Want me to stay till he gets back?”  
She vigorously nodded her head. “Yeah. And just say that you’re here to properly check out the new place or something.”  
“So you want me to lie to him?”  
Panic entered her face.  
Anjerika let out a soft chuckle. “Don’t worry. It’s just a small bit of hiding the truth. ’Cause we know him knowing would be bad.”  
“Yeah. Seriously, thank you, Anjerika. You’re such a great friend.”  
She gave her one last hug. “Of course.”

That night the time finally arrived. Even though Cathy had managed to calm down, she was still slightly nervous. Worst part was that now she didn’t even know why. Everything Anjerika had said was true, so there was no need.  
She would just have to suck it up and deal with it. She loved Karma and trusted him with her life, so she would do this and succeed, whatever that meant.  
She walked over to the bedroom and entered. He was already there, playing on his game console. She let out a nervous chuckle. “You truly are something else,” she said affectionately.  
He looked at her with a faint smile. “What makes you say that, dear?”  
She shook her head. “Nothing.” She slowly walked over to the bed and went under the sheets. The moment she was covered up, her heart started beating faster again. She lay down and faced away from him. _Why am I so nervous?_ she wondered sadly. _It’s just him._  
Karma looked at her concerned. He put away his console and stroked her gently on her head. “Are you alright?” he asked in a soft voice.  
She shook her head. “Dunno why. I’m sorry. It’s not that I don’t trust you or something, I’m just so nervous for no proper reason.”  
“It is kinda the next step in our relationship. All this. Shows how serious we are.”  
“And yet you’re as calm as ever,” she said in a small voice.  
“C’mon, sweetheart, you must know by now how much I like hiding those feelings,” he said with a smile.  
She chuckled and looked at him lovingly. “Fine. So you’re saying you’re actually nervous about this?”  
“Deadly.”  
She reached up and gently stroked his cheek. “The great Karma Akabane, nervous about spending his first proper night with his girlfriend.” She chuckled softly. “I can get behind that. Thank you. I’m calm again ’cause of you.”  
He properly lay down next to her. “You mind if I hold you as well?”  
She shook her head. “’Course not. I love being in your arms.” She turned around and rested against him. “’Cause I know that’s the safest I can be.”  
A small blush formed on his cheeks before he properly held onto her. After a bit of unsure moving, the couple finally managed to fall asleep.


	41. Tragedy

It was now the middle of the day during the holidays before they started college and there was a knock on the door. Cathy shot up and went towards the door to open it with a kind smile.  
In front of her stood a police officer. “Cathy Pravina?”  
“Yes.”  
“My condolences. We were just informed that your parents Joshua and Nora Pravina died in an accident.”  
“What?” she asked in a small voice.  
“Your parents,” he said, “are dead.”  
She backed away, almost falling to the floor only to be stopped by the tall man standing behind her, rubbing her arms in consolation. He looked at the officer with merciless eyes.  
“Miss, I really am sorry.”  
“Of course he is,” Karma said to Cathy, still looking at the man as a threat. “But that’s enough. Because this man over here is going to go back and leave you alone. Though before he leaves he will give me his information so I can reach him for more information about this crime.”  
The man backed away slightly. “Sir, that’s classified information.”  
He smiled. “I’m sure he’s capable of figuring out a way to make it unclassified. Otherwise he’ll get the treatment that the person who caused the accident would get.” He had wrapped his arms around her and was holding her closely. “What do you say to that?”  
She just leant against him and whispered, “Sure.”  
The officer felt like fleeing the scene, but couldn’t help but be rooted by the red head’s golden-eyed stare. “I’ll see what I can do.”  
“Good.” Now he actually properly looked at him. “Not get outta my sight before I pummel you for making my girlfriend cry.”  
The officer didn’t need a second warning and fled after giving the man a contact card. On his way down he considered taking the man into custody for treating an officer of the law the way he did, but decided against it because he knew it was just his way of looking out for his girlfriend.  
The moment the officer left, Cathy’s legs gave in. Karma had her in his arms in bridal style before she fell any further. “I really am sorry, Cathy,” he said softly as he placed his forehead against hers. “I wish I could’ve done something to prevent this.”  
She didn’t respond but instead held onto his shirt as she sobbed into it.  
They reached the bedroom and he gently placed her in it and covered her up. He stayed there for a few minutes, thinking of any kind of way he could possibly help her in this situation. He had gone through a loss of a loved one years ago, but he knew this was different. These people had raised her, made her into the person she was today. They had even supported their relationship even though they had first thought him to be a psychopath. In the end, he also felt sad. He had hoped to have them there in the future, show support when needed and love.  
As he sat there by the bedside, a phone suddenly rang from the sitting room. He stood up to check who could be calling at a time like this and saw it was one of her aunts from England. He picked up the phone.  
“Hello.”  
“Hello? This is Cathy’s phone right?”  
“Yeah. And this is her boyfriend. She’s unavailable at the moment, so I thought it’d be best to pick up.” He was silent for a second. “How is everyone on your side?”  
The woman gulped. “Handling. That’s why I thought I should call her. To see if I could be of any help.”  
“Not now. Maybe you could handle the funeral. I’ll help if necessary; just don’t try to drag her into any of this. She needs rest and time.”  
“Of course. Thank you, Karma. We’ll send you anything we’ll need help with. Though I think she might still have to write a eulogy. That’s usually what the children of the deceased do. You can also help her with that in whatever way you want.”  
“Yeah.” Though it could be heard in his voice that he wasn’t happy with the suggestion. He knew the emotional toll it could take on her and if anything would like to avoid that. But he knew that if she wanted to do it, he would support it. He just wouldn’t force her to do it. “And how’s her brother, James?”  
“He’s acting strange. Usually he’s really serious and everything, but now he’s jumping around.”  
_Probably to distract himself._ “Yeah. That is quite strange. I’ll see you all when we come.”  
“Of course. Thank you. Could you perhaps give me your email?”  
“Yeah. Sure.” He gave her his contact details and hung up.


	42. The sorrowful days

The coming days leading up to the funeral were sombre to say the least. Cathy hardly slept nor ate. She still spent most of her time beside Karma, but mainly used him as a cushion to lean against. Since she clearly needed it and he truly cared for her, he allowed it but he still tried to make her at least something every day. He had found out that soups were the easiest for her to eat, so had started searching for all kinds of soup recipes.  
She also talked a lot about her parents, more things than she had ever said about them before. She seemed happy when she told him the stories, though her eyes were clearly telling another story. A possibly strange thing was that even though she had told the story before, she repeated it a bit later. She talked and talked about them like her favourite series. He had tried to get her to watch some she loved with him, but like with everything else, even though there had been a smile on her face, it wasn’t entirely meant.  
But in the end, to a certain extent, the worst thing was when she cried. It happened at any time, with no specific trigger. He would be doing something by himself, like going over college material, while she rested and he would suddenly hear her sobbing. That moment, without fail, he dropped everything and hugged her. The hugs weren’t like his usual ones where she could bury her head in his chest, but sideway ones where he showed that he was there for her and that she could cry as much as she wanted.  
However the thing was, in the end, he was also breaking. He loved her more than anything and he couldn’t do anything at the moment. He knew that in times like this support was important, but he missed that smile that had helped him with falling in love with her.  
The day finally came that they would be going to England for the funeral. Karma had prepared breakfast and was now on his way to his shared room when the door opened. Slowly but surely Cathy emerged from it, looking as tired as she had for the past few days. She moved over to him, unsurprisingly ignoring the food. Then she pulled him into an embrace, holding onto his shirt and indicating that she truly felt at ease with him.  
“Thank you, Karma. For everything.” Her voice was still hoarse from all the crying.  
He was surprised by the words. In the broader scale, there was no need for them. He was just doing what he always did, supporting her. He put a hand on her upper back. “Of course. If you want, I’ve made us breakfast.”  
She nodded against him and let go. They sat next to each other and he served the food. As he was doing it, her hand had shot to the hem of his shirt and was now gripping it. He looked up at her. “Is there anything I can do?”  
She shook her head. “I...I just don’t want to go,” she said as tears started forming in her eyes.  
He rubbed her back in comfort. “I know. And I wish you didn’t have to. But your family’s waiting there for you. As is your brother.”  
She bit the inside of her lip. “But I’m scared I’ll screw up somehow.”  
“You’ll be with me. I’m pretty sure I’ll manage to screw up even more than you.”  
She chuckled softly. It was a welcoming and heartbreaking feeling. She was silent for a bit, looking at the floor and wondering what to say. “We could turn it into a bet.”  
He smiled slightly, but still shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Cathy. Just eat your breakfast.”  
“Yes, sir,” she said, without thinking about the words.  
Though they had still been enough to embarrass her boyfriend. He had referred to her sometimes as ‘ma’am’ when she had lectured him in some way or another but she hardly called him ‘sir’. He wondered whether it was something new or just something to do with her emotions at the moment.  
They silently ate breakfast, Cathy’s grip tightening every so often.  
When it was finally done, she shuffled back over to her room. “Did I pack?” she said absentmindedly.  
“Yeah. I helped you yesterday. We picked out a nice black dress for you to wear on the day.”  
“Good. Thank you.” Then she disappeared back into the room.  
Like it had the past few days, changing took longer than usual. Karma patiently waited outside the room while checking the clock. After the maximum time it had taken her before passed, he knocked on the door. “Cathy?” he spoke softly.  
There was no response.  
His hand hung around the doorknob. “Cathy, I’m coming in.” He opened the door and saw her changed, staring at their packed luggage. He knelt down beside her. “What’s wrong?”  
“You’re taking a suit.”  
“Yeah.”  
“You look good in suits.”  
“Thanks.”  
“You should wear them more often.” Every sentence was a mess of her broken voice.  
“I’ll try if you want. I don’t think I have enough money now to buy many more.”  
She leant against his chest. “True. Then other girls might try to steal you from me as well.”  
He supported her by putting his arm around her. “And we both know that’s not gonna work out for them.” He put his free hand against the baggage top. “Is it alright if I close it?”  
She nodded. “Yeah.” She yawned. “Guess I’m tired. When is our ride?”  
He checked his watch. “It’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”  
She smiled at him. “Good thing we got up nice on time then.”  
“Yeah.” He moved his supporting arm upwards and rubbed her head slightly. That as result caused Cathy to bury herself deeper against him with a satisfied smile. “Wow, you’re actually like a cat. It’d say this is even cuter than you normally..”  
She shot up straight away and looked at him with bright red cheeks. “Shut up. We should...you know, get going.”  
“Of course, ma’am.” He helped her up slightly and then picked up the bag. Yet again, she was holding onto him, this time by his hand. He had grown a lot over the past three years, but she hadn’t truly considered it until now. She really felt so small compared to him at the moment. They were equals in many ways, yes, but she still couldn’t help but see him as a higher demon than she could ever be.  
They put on their shoes and coats. Cathy, still bright red from Karma’s words, was putting them on meekly. Karma stretched out his hand and she took it. “Ready to go, sweetheart?” Just for the nickname, he used his Southern accent. He hadn’t used it when she had been grieving. Because he had known that as much as she loved it, his normal voice was the best option.  
She smiled and nodded. Then the couple began their journey to another country.


	43. Long journey

The whole trip of 12 hours 40 minutes had been mostly spent in silence. On the plane ride over Cathy had decided to use Karma’s shoulder as a cushion just to rest. While she had been resting on his shoulder, Karma stroked her softly. It clearly calmed her down.  
At some point a flight attendant came by and asked whether they needed anything. He decided to buy a small snack and thanked her with a smile. Then he turned back, not noticing that the fact that he had been genuinely nice to someone with the way he was looking now, had made the attendant blush.  
As he continued eating his snack, a voice emerged from his shoulder area. “You eating something, you idiot?”  
He held down the snack to her mouth. “Want?”  
A small part of her was shouting yes at the top of its lungs, she needed food to survive, to live healthy, even if it was just some snack. The rest of her shook its head firmly, saying that there was no point in eating food, she wasn’t hungry anyway and that she could survive without eating every so often.  
Karma saw the conflicting battle in her eyes and sighed. “Just eat it. I know not everything taste as good to you as it used to, but you need your strength.”  
She carefully took the snack from her boyfriend’s hands and bit into it. It did taste good, no denying that. But that one bite already felt like enough. She looked next to her and saw him looking at her seriously. So she bit into it again, chewed and swallowed. _Why is it weighing down on me so much?_ she wondered once she had finished it off.  
“That’s good,” Karma said, taking the wrapper. “I know it’s not easy for you to eat at the moment, but you clearly did your best and that’s a great start.”  
“They’ll probably also have all kinds of foods there,” she said, leaning against him.  
“Yeah. English food for that matter.”  
She held on lightly onto his jacket with her forefinger and thumb and moved her hand upwards and downwards. “Don’t hope for too much. It’ll probably be pretty basic stuff.”  
“Yeah. I guess so.”


	44. Family reunion

Eventually the couple made it to Heathrow Airport and were driven to their motel. It was a motel near the graveyard where other family members were also staying. They knew that there was a high key chance that they would meet the rest of the family and as much as Cathy had been trying to mentally prepare herself during the trip, she hadn’t been able to. She hardly ever saw them, only for short periods during the holidays when she went back home. And this was something entirely different. This was a solemn occasion.  
“Cathy,” she suddenly heard behind her. The hand in her boyfriend’s tightened its grip. As he continued checking in, she turned to see her Aunt Misa, from her mother’s side, coming over to her. Misa stopped the moment she saw the tall red head next to her niece. She saw the way Cathy was holding onto him, like holding on for dear life. She had spoken to him on the phone, but this was still entirely new. And then he turned around and smiled at her and she almost fell over. She knew that he was the same age as Cathy, they had been in the same class at some point, but compared to her he looked so much older.  
Not a second later his smile disappeared and he looked at Cathy. The look in his eye changed to tender and concerned at the same time. “You gonna introduce us, dear?”  
She was almost wrapped around his left arm. “Yeah. This is my Aunt Misa, my mother’s sister. She’s a few years older than her.” She looked towards Misa. Even though she hadn’t noticed the change, it appeared like she had transformed into a much younger and meeker person. In fact, meeker than when she had been at home. “This is my boyfriend Karma Akabane.”  
Misa bowed in greeting and Karma did the same. He was fortunate that the action didn’t include too much bowing; otherwise his girlfriend might’ve fallen over.  
“Well, it was a pleasure meeting you. But we really should check into our room.” Karma picked up his bags and went along with Cathy to their room. “If you want I can mostly talk to them,” he said, looking at her.  
“I...don’t think you should. They’re my family.”  
“Exactly. I’ll have to impress them. It’ll be good practice for the future.”  
She chuckled and shook her head. “If you’re suggesting that you manipulate my family into liking you, you’ve got a real problem, mister.”  
He grinned at her. “And why is that?”  
“Because...,” she said in a small voice. “...I love you for who you are and it’d be great if they did the same.”  
His face became the same colour as his hair. “Ok. I’ll be myself.”  
“Good, because that’s the only Karma I ever want to see. Unless the person you’re manipulating deserves it.”  
At the moment she was distracted enough not to think of what was to come. Good. “So pretty much anyone who isn’t family.”  
She laughed. “No, Karma. That’s not what I’m saying.”  
Then the next family member appeared: a cousin of Cathy who went by the name Ishimaru Greca. He stopped and stared at her. For a fellow family member who had just lost someone, there was no remorse in his eyes. “So, she finally returns.”  
She felt like burying her head in the sand, but managed to call up enough confidence to say, “What are you talking about? I come here every Christmas and holiday.”  
“That’s great, but everything was still pushed on us. Have you got any idea how difficult it is to plan a funeral? And you weren’t the only one who’s sad, you know. James was as well and my parents. But you just spent all your time in Japan, probably doing nothing.”  
The positions of the couple had changed; now Cathy was standing behind Karma, who was shielding her of this rude cousin.  
Ishimaru finally noticed him and smiled, taking out his hand. “I’m Ishimaru Greca, nice to meet you.”  
Karma smiled in return, but there was still a desire for bloodshed in his eyes. “Karma,” was all he said.  
Ishimaru blinked for a bit and smiled faintly. “I’d heard she had gotten a boyfriend with a weird name, but didn’t believe it. Guess it’s actually true. She always was the weird one.”  
He balled his fist, ready to strike.  
“Karma, this isn’t the time or place,” said a small, soft voice behind him.  
He uncurled his hand. “Of course. I’m sorry.” The apology was clearly directed at Cathy. “Let’s go to our room, then.” He walked past the cousin and further through the motel.  
Just before the couple were out of earshot, Ishimaru said loudly, “You really can tame a beast, eh, Cathy.”  
She looked at him with a glare more deadly than he had ever seen before. He had been able to handle the way Karma had looked at him, probably because he hadn’t known him as well, but this was just plain scary.  
“Excuse me, would you like to repeat that, please?” Though her question was polite, her voice most definitely wasn’t.  
He backed away. “Sorry, didn’t mean that. I’m not myself, you know. I should go check on mum.” Then he ran away.  
Karma smiled pleased. “It’s nice seeing you scare people every so often.”  
“Thanks. Let’s just get to our room before we meet anyone else.”  
“You think any other family members would act like that?”  
“I don’t know. But I’d rather not find out today. Sitting on a 13 hours long flight took a lot out of me.”  
He nodded. “Yeah. Want a ride?”  
The way he talked to her, like it always had, made her want to melt into a puddle. For her, at this moment, he was the only person she cared about. She knew that family was important, but just like with Ishimaru, they didn’t always agree with her choices. Karma, on the other hand, supported her no matter what and helped her through things. Like, she guessed, her family had done when they had first found out. Was what Ishimaru had said true? Should she have been here from the very beginning, helping plan the funeral? She doubted her heart could’ve taken it. But what about tomorrow?  
She almost tripped over her own feet. Karma had luckily been able to stop her the moment she lost her balance.  
“What’s wrong?”  
She shook her head, unable to form the words to her problem.  
“I see.” He placed the bag on the ground and picked her up swiftly. “Don’t think about it. I’m here and there’ll be no problems that the two most feared people can’t handle.”  
She smiled slightly and leant against his chest. She beckoned him to come closer to her and kissed him. “True. Anyone’s stupid to stand up against us.”  
“Yeah. Now let’s finally get to our room.”  
The room was of a simple enough design, much like their own one. It had a double bed, two bedside tables, chairs and an en suite bathroom. He placed her on the bed and put the baggage at the foot of the bed. “You want to go eat somewhere tonight?”  
She looked blankly at the ceiling. “Do you think they have room service?”  
“Doubt it, since this is a motel. Unless you call me getting food room service.”  
She straightened up slightly and looked at him. “Not that I don’t appreciate everything you’re doing for me, Karma, but I can’t have you running around doing errands the whole time. I mean...I feel so weak and powerless...and it sucks because I know that’s not how I used to be. But...I don’t want to create extra work for you.”  
He went over to her side, sat on the bed and asked, “In what way is willingly doing stuff for the woman you love extra work?”  
She went back to playing with his jacket, this time the hem. “But it still feels wrong,” she said unevenly.  
He hugged her and pulled her close to him. “Well it isn’t, sweetheart. It’s entirely normal. So please don’t feel guilty.”  
_He begged._ “I hate you,” she said in a small voice before she started sobbing in his chest.  
He rocked back and forth while rubbing her head. She pretty much fell asleep in his arms in no time, which was the very moment he reached his breaking point. He was lucky that his crying wasn’t as loud as hers. He buried his face in her hair and sobbed silently. He had been able to stay strong for her over the past days, but seeing her like that had been a stab to his heart multiple times. The worst thing was that even though he had done various things for her, he hadn’t been able to truly help her. The internet had told him what to do best and he had followed it to the letter. But that still hadn’t changed the fact that she had spent most of her days in their room – crying, staring into nothingness or sleeping. And that’s when it had sunk in. No matter what he did, he wouldn’t be getting the girl he had known all those years back. And one of the worst things was: she had helped him cope with Korosensei’s death. He had felt almost instantly better when they had become a couple who spent a lot of time with each other. The best feeling was of course when she was in his arms. But now, even though she was clearly relying on him more than she even realised, he didn’t know what else he could do. He wanted to bring back her happiness, but didn’t know how.


	45. “Do you trust me?”

The next morning Cathy woke up in what could only be described in a weird position. The only normal thing was that she was still in Karma’s arms, but the way he was laying was so different. It was like the top half of him had decided to go to bed normally, though the fact that he was currently sleeping on her shoulder was anything but, however his bottom half wasn’t entirely on the bed.  
“Karma,” she said softly as she put her hand on his head.  
He stirred and looked at her. “Morning.”  
“Morning. Karma, why are you still wearing your clothes?” That also was one of the weirder things of his position.  
He straightened up and looked at himself, his right hand still resting on her head. “I guess I forgot.”  
She could tell there was something off about his voice. She had heard his morning voice often enough to know that this was not it. Had something happened? “Karma, have you been crying?” she asked worried.  
“Of course not, sweetheart. Why would I do that?” He knew it was a terrible lie, but at a moment like this he couldn’t admit the truth.  
She stared at him seriously, not breaking eye contact. Eventually he gave in and looked away. “Yeah. A bit. Guess it was too much for me.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
“Cathy, you don’t have to apologise. Nothing about this is your fault.”  
She held onto the bottom of her shirt. “It still feels that way.”  
“Do you trust me?”  
“Of course.”  
“Why is it then so difficult to believe that it isn’t your fault?”  
She turned her eyes away. “I don’t know... I think it’s because over the past few days I’ve been relying so much on you. And yeah, if the roles were reversed of course I’d do anything in my power to help you. Though my cooking’d probably suck. I know that in many ways we are equal, but to me you’re still above me.” She caressed his cheek. “You’re my king and I know I’m your queen, but it still sometimes feels like when we were united I was lesser than you. You are so amazing, Karma, in so many possible ways and I’m just me. I know you see great things about me that I don’t always see. But I can’t help it...”  
He listened quietly while his heartbeat sped up a pace. It was weird for her to think that. Had he ever made her feel lesser than him? Had his teasing at some point been too much and damaged her confidence? He had made fun of her height plenty of times, but it hadn’t seemed to have gotten to her all those times. She had just seemed slightly annoyed, not actually upset. And she had always known that he would never go too far in teasing her. What was it then?  
He sighed. “You think you’re lesser than me because of my intelligence.”  
She guiltily bit the inside of her lip.  
“Why?”  
“Because when you show how smart you are I feel like a bystander. A bystander who loves what’s happening in front of her, but a bystander nonetheless.”  
“And if I taught you the stuff I know?”  
“Our brains still work differently.” She held his head and leant her forehead against his. “It’s so different.”  
“Of course. If our brains were the same, it’d be pretty boring. I definitely wouldn’t have fallen for someone with the same kinda brain. If I had, then I wouldn’t get those moments of ‘don’t do it, you idiot’. Also, yeah, you have stated that I’m an idiot quite a few times, so I don’t see what the problem is.”  
She sighed. “Yeah, you are an idiot, _my_ idiot. And I know you’re not perfect, not even in my eyes, you never were. You were always this imperfectly perfect person that I looked up to and loved seeing every single day. But still, everything about this, it’s just making you an even more perfect boyfriend.”  
“And that’s a bad thing?” Just for that one sentence his voice changed to slightly mischievous.  
She moved her arms to behind his neck. “No. It just makes me love you even more. And I can’t change this love into anything but gratitude at the moment. And I don’t even know how I could ever give back what you’re giving me now. You’ll probably say something along the lines of ‘I don’t need anything, your love is enough’. But I guess I still want to do something.”  
“Maybe you could help with cooking.”  
She looked into his eyes. “Really? Out of everything to ask.”  
He shrugged. “If you want me to ask for something else, sweetheart, go ahead. I ain’t stopping ya,” he said in his Southern accent.  
She giggled. “Oh gods, you really are my idiot.” She said before tackled him into a kiss.  
The moment got interrupted by Karma’s stomach making a growling noise.  
“You didn’t eat yesterday evening, did you?”  
“Nah. Room service fell asleep before he could do anything,” he said with a smile.  
She gave him the classic ‘you’re an idiot’ look before she got up. “Well let’s get him some food before he starves to death.”  
“And you as well of course.”  
“Yeah.” She looked at herself. “I should get changed first.”  
“Yeah, probably best.”  
“You too.”  
“Will do. Will you also have a shower?”  
“Maybe later. We got to get some food into you first.”  
“Yeah.” Once she disappeared, Karma got his own clothes. _She doesn’t realise that everything she does for me is really showing how much she loves me._  
Minutes later, the couple were ready to roll. They had breakfast in a nearby restaurant. Then it was time to prepare for what was to come. Cathy took out her black dress and looked at it unsurely. She had been taking her whole trip to England one step at a time and the moment she had been dreading was so close now.  
But the first thing was she needed a shower. She looked towards the bathroom and just then Karma came out wearing nothing but a towel. She looked at him unperturbed. “You know, usually people actually put on their clothes before going anywhere.”  
He chuckled. “I’ll do it here. Then you have extra time in the bathroom.”  
She got up and held up one of her hands in defeat. “I give up. You win. I may be less intelligent than you, but you’re definitely a bigger idiot.”  
“Glad you think so, dear.”  
She sighed and went into the bathroom. When the door was just open a creek, she pocked her face out of it. “Just get changed before I charge you for indecency.”  
“Will do, ma’am.”  
She placed her head against the doorframe. “And stop calling me that. You make me sound like some old lady.”  
“Well you are older.”  
“By one month.” She closed the door behind her and smiled softly. “Seriously, Karma, thank you. You have no idea how happy you’re making me by just being here,” she said under her breath before she started getting herself ready. She later exited the bathroom and saw Karma reading on their bed. “See you’re still preparing for college.”  
He looked up at her and shrugged. “Best to be prepared.”  
“And then get the best points in class like always. Kinda a shame that I won’t be there.”  
“Your college is also great and really close. So technically, during the breaks, you could come over.”  
“Maybe,” she said in a small voice.  
“Want me to do your hair?”  
She blinked multiple times, trying to understand the question. “Um... What?”  
“You said you wanted to put it in a braid, right? Can you do it by yourself?”  
She really wondered when these kinds of things would stop embarrassing her. Any time soon definitely wasn’t it. “Okay.” She sat down on a chair and handed him her brush and hair band. “Don’t do it too tight.”  
“Of course.” He started combing her hair and laughed. “Wow, someone’s got tangled up hair.”  
“Shut up. It just gets tangled easily.”  
“Then it is a good thing that I’m going to braid it now.”  
“Yeah.”  
As he was braiding her hair, he was cheerfully humming a tune. Hearing him like that she couldn’t help but smile. While it continued however a giggle escaped her lips. “Shut up.”  
“Huh? What are you talking about?” he asked, feigning innocence. “I didn’t say anything.”  
She looked up at him from the corner of her eye. “You were humming.”  
“What? Didn’t you like it?”  
She groaned, “Seriously, why out of everyone?” She said in her normal voice. “No. It’s just distracting and you know I have to stay still.”  
“Not anymore. I’m done.” He held the braid in front of her.  
She held onto it and smiled at him. “It’s beautiful. Thank you.”  
“Of course. A beautiful braid for a beautiful demoness.”  
She sighed with a smile. “Let’s just get going, Karma. We can’t be late.”  
“Of course.”  
She stood up and for the first time properly looked at him. She let out a nervous giggle. “Damn, you really do look good in a suit.”  
“Glad you think so.” He grinned at her and held out his arm. “So what’d you say? You ready?”  
She took his hand. “With you, always.”


	46. The cousin

It was finally time to meet the rest of the family. The moment Cathy showed her face, she got overwhelmed by family members, on both sides. Luckily she had been able to handle it with Karma by her side. Suddenly she got attacked by a hug. She looked at the perpetrator and recognised the face. He was smiling at her with tear filled eyes. “James,” she said, barely louder than a whisper.  
Instead of saying anything he just continued hugging her.  
“Wow. You’ve sure got an interesting brother,” Karma commented beside her.  
“Not now,” she snarled. She put her arms around him and hugged him back. “It’s good to see you again.”  
“So she says.” Apparently Ishimaru wasn’t done with tearing her apart yet, even after the threat of the couple. “And yet she’s only here today. She’ll probably go back to Japan once everything’s over.”  
James lifted up his head and looked at her with sad eyes. “Will you?”  
“Um...I’m sorry. But college is starting soon.”  
Her brother tightened his grip on her cardigan. “No.”  
“James, I’m sorry. You can come with us if you want and stay with my old guardian, but we can’t stay here for long.”  
His eyes moved to the red head standing next to his sister and he glared at him. “Your fault.”  
“No. Not really. She’s made every single decision on her own and I never convinced her to stay in Japan. She just loves living there.”  
“Well, I’m keeping her,” he said with a childish pout.  
His demonic grin appeared. “Oh, you want to steal her from me, huh?”  
“Karma,” Cathy almost pleaded. “Not now. We have to get through this without any problems, remember?”  
“And your brother trying to kidnap you isn’t a problem?”  
“I’ll talk to him.” She looked back towards her brother. “James, please let go of me, I’m not going anywhere now. I promise.”  
He begrudgingly let go of her, but still held onto her cardigan much like how she had held onto Karma the day before. “Stay,” he said, tears still falling down his face.  
She knelt down and looked him in the eyes. “Believe me, I don’t want to leave you here. I would love to take you back home and let you meet my wonderful old guardian Alex. And Japan is such a beautiful place. But at the moment I am in no state to look after you in any way and can’t stay here since college starts in a few days. I want you by my side, James, I just can’t make it happen now.”  
“You really are a great sister, Cathy,” Ishimaru spoke up.  
His mother gave him a stern look before there was an eerie chuckle in the air. “And you’re just a great cousin, aren’t cha, Ishimaru. Verbally attacking her like that even after she pretty much made it obvious that we shouldn’t be messed with. This really isn’t the moment to start anything, but I’d like to show you some things once all this is over. Unless, of course, you decide to apologise to her and stop being so rude.”  
Cathy looked frantically between her boyfriend and cousin. Karma seemed all for beating up this cousin now. Her cousin, on the other hand, still seemed willing to say rude things. He didn’t know Karma, and his build didn’t exactly scream out ‘you’ll be kissing the sidewalk soon’, but now it just came down to common sense. No one in their right mind would hear all of that and still not be convinced that they were digging their own grave.  
Ishimaru turned to Cathy and said, “I’m sorry, Cathy.”  
“It’s alright.”  
“That you have such a lame boyfriend.”  
“Gods help me,” she said, looking up at the sky. She patted her brother’s head before she walked over to Ishimaru. It wasn’t exactly confident, but still enough to root him to the spot. “I’m sorry you don’t like my boyfriend, but you’re stuck with him. That is depending on how much you want to see me. Judging from those words this is probably the first and last time. I don’t entirely understand what made you dislike me as much as you do, what you said yesterday can’t be all of it. But yeah, now I’m honestly all for Karma showing you that something after all this.” The moment she spoke her last word, all confidence disappeared from her. It had taken a lot out of her. She couldn’t remember the last time she had spoken to someone like that.  
She walked back over to Karma and James and her brother seemed happier by her sight than before. “You’re so cool, Cathy.”  
“Thank you.”  
“Good that your brother can see that as well. You actually want me to do it?”  
She shrugged weakly. “Dunno. We should...go to the ceremony and everything first.”  
“Of course.”  
The family members closest to the deceased got front row seats. Cathy, Karma and James along with the parents were all part of it. To say that it was heartbreaking would be an understatement. Cathy kept fidgeting with things, first her necklace, then her dress, then Karma’s shirt. Eventually she decided to open the booklet of the service and her eyes boggled out. She pulled slightly onto Karma’s sleeve. He looked over at her and saw her pointing at her name.  
He stared at it blankly. _We never said that she’d be doing it._ He reached into his trouser pocket and handed a piece of paper to her. “Kinda written how you would. Sorry if it’s not accurate,” he whispered.  
She opened up the piece of paper and her eyes travelled over it. It was so accurate. How out of everything she had told him had he been able to put it into words so perfectly?  
Then her name was called and she pretty much froze to her chair. A big hand was covering hers. “Stay...with me,” she barely got out.  
“Of course.”  
She walked up to the dais, Karma keeping her up in whatever way he could. She stood behind the microphone, adjusting it slightly. Then she began to talk. “Hi,” she said weakly. “So...this is the moment when I’m supposed to express how great my parents are...were. But in the end there is no way to express it. They supported me to no end, me moving to Japan to the best school and being with the person I love. They were always so friendly when I called and we could talk for hours on end. And I know there aren’t many people who...” she caught her breath and wiped her tears away, “...have that. I did and I love them and I wish I could have told them that more. They deserved so much more.” She started sinking through her knees and was now only being held up by the tall man behind her. “I wish that they could have been part of any big event in my future, but that’s not possible now. I...I want them back. Please. Anything, I’ll do anything.” It had stopped being a eulogy and had turned into a young girl wanting her parents back.  
“Cathy, I think that’s enough,” Karma said gently in her ear.  
She nodded in response, unable to speak anymore. The moment she sat back down James took Karma’s seat and hugged her. It was a hug of true compassion.  
Others talked and with every passing second Cathy’s tears were becoming more and more aggressive. Then the first part was over. The second part was another thing that Cathy wasn’t looking forward to: the viewing of the bodies. One by one people had to go over to the open caskets and throw flowers into it. Once they reached the place where it was happening, Cathy had gone back to clutching onto Karma’s shirt. She had gone through some stuff that she had considered scary, but out of all of them, this moment undoubtedly took first spot. As everyone was walking over, she had gone back to her slow trudge.  
Karma looked at her and pulled her closer. He rubbed her head with his thumb and forefinger. It calmed her down enough to help her move forward. One by one the petals were placed. Some people said things, making it even scarier for Cathy. Would she seem rude if she didn’t say anything? But her neck felt so constricted and her lips so tight that she couldn’t even say anything if she wanted. She picked up some petals, Karma doing the same beside her and they both threw them in to her mother’s coffin first.  
She had tried not to look, she really had, but her eyes had needed to see where she was throwing the petals. The sight of her mother there wasn’t just scary; it was straight up from a nightmare. She staggered back, wanting to scream but not being able to. She looked further and saw that from this angle her father wasn’t visible. Now her whole mind was split in half: go to him as well or not. She didn’t want to see her father as well. Her mother had already been bad enough, she had looked so peaceful and yet so pale. It was obvious she would never be waking up again.  
“Cathy.”  
She shook her head aggressively.  
“You don’t want to?”  
She looked down.  
“It’s alright. You can sit on a chair if you want. I’ll do one for you as well.”  
She continued looking at the ground as she was lead to a chair. She sat down and was kissed softly on the forehead. “I’ll be back soon. Promise.” Then he was gone. It had just been for a second and she was already feeling herself sink in the pit of despair. She held onto her necklace, closed her eyes and tried to breathe normally. Eventually she had managed to calm herself down enough that she was now lying on the chair next to her as well. She was now looking at everyone with vacant eyes. So many people – all for her parents. She felt so small. A small peep exited her mouth.  
“I doubt anyone would mind if you screamed,” Karma said as he knelt to be on her eye height. He placed his left hand on her arm.  
Instead of responding her eyes moved to the other people.  
“They’re almost done. We’ll be going to the burial ground after that. Then I’ll be all over.”  
“Is she okay?” Cathy’s other aunt, Nana Greca, asked.  
“No. Doubt she will be any time soon. But she’s holding up strong.”  
Nana nodded and also knelt down. “If there’s anything that I can do, tell me. I’m really sorry for how Ishimaru was acting earlier.”  
“He should apologise himself,” Karma said, looking at her sideways.  
“I know. But he refuses to. I don’t understand why he’s so mean to you. He won’t talk. Maybe he’s in his rebellious stage.”  
Karma almost scoffed. Luckily he stopped himself before anyone could hear him. “Being rebellious doesn’t mean that he can be an ass.” He felt his girlfriend’s eyes on him, so added, “To people who don’t deserve it.”  
It was a weak excuse, but it still got a small smile from Cathy. Her hand reached to his shirt again. Instead of grabbing it, she put her hand on his chest, where his heart was.


	47. Little brother

The rest of the funeral was spent in silence. It really was like the energy had been drained out of the whole family. Some cried and some just had blank looks on their faces – unable to cry.  
Cathy had stopped crying and had become part of the second group. Her lips were still sealed shut and she was weakly swaying. Her brother on the other hand was still crying his eyes out and holding onto her like she was the only connection to the world. He didn’t even seem to mind that his older sister was so out of it, he just wanted her by his side.  
The coffins were buried in silence and some last words were said. Now it was time to go to the get-together area.  
As Cathy was slowly walking along next to Karma, her eyes drifted to her brother.  
He was reasonably young compared to her and now he felt like he could only rely on her.  
She tried to open her mouth again, but it wouldn’t budge. She moved her hand around in Karma’s to get his attention. He looked at her questionably and she indicated her brother with her head.  
He nodded and stopped. “James,” he said in a soft voice.  
James looked up.  
“Where would you like to go after this?”  
“With Cathy,” he said in a small voice.  
“So to Japan? Are you sure? It is a big step and a place entirely different than here.”  
“I know. I just want to be with her.”  
He knelt by James. “Do you mean live with her?”  
He nodded.  
“I’m sorry. Her apartment isn’t big enough and she’ll be away most of the time once college starts. She does know this great lady however who I’m sure would happily take you in. She looked after Cathy while she stayed there.” The look in his eyes changed to playful. “She may be slightly crazy, but in a very fun way.”  
A broken chuckle managed to escape Cathy’s mouth. “Great way to advertise her,” she said, barely louder than a whisper.  
He smiled slightly. “Like always, it’s the truth. We’ll try to contact her once all this is over, okay?”  
James nodded. “Thank you. You’re also kind of cool.”  
“Glad you think so.” He stood up. “But your sister’s much cooler.”  
“Karma.” She wanted to disagree with him on the statement, but didn’t know how to.


	48. Apology

During the get-together everyone was talking with everyone. Some of the nicer family members came to the siblings and gave their condolences. Cathy quietly thanked them as she tried to eat some of the food. Mostly her time was spent making sure her brother was ok.  
Karma looked at her. “Is it alright if I call Alex now?”  
“Yeah,” she said distracted. “I’ll be alright for now.”  
He rubbed her cheek with his thumb and kissed her forehead. “See you soon, dear.”  
She nodded, still looking at her brother who was pretty much scarfing down his food.  
“Are you sure you’re not eating too much, James?” she asked in a small, concerned voice.  
He shook his head. “Food is good. You should eat more, Cathy.”  
A pained smile appeared on her face. “Yeah. I should.” She looked towards the table stacked with variations of food. “Eating is good. Eating gives you strength. I need strength.”  
James looked up at her. “Do you want me to get something for you?”  
She shook her head. “No. It’s fine. I can do it myself. I can’t very well rely on you and Karma when it comes down to everything. Will you be alright here for a bit?”  
He nodded. “Yeah. I’ll be able to see you anyway.”  
“Good.” She slid off her chair and walked towards the table. She looked at everything, not sure what to take. Even a snack had been enough to fill her the previous day. Her hands hovered over some sandwiches.  
“If you’re going to pick something, just do it,” the voice of Ishimaru said beside her.  
She almost jumped out of her own skin at the sound of his voice. She turned towards him. He didn’t look as ready to fight as before. His face had become more sombre. “Ishimaru.”  
“I liked that eulogy you gave. It was very touching.”  
“Thank you,” she said unsurely as she picked out a sandwich.  
“Your boyfriend also seems pretty cool and supportive. I know you said that he was, but it was entirely something different seeing him like that.”  
“Yeah.”  
Ishimaru sighed. “Damn. Why is this so difficult?” He took a deep breath. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry. And I mean it this time. It sucks that even though you used to live here, you moved to Japan but that’s the way it is. Your parents were cool with it after all.”  
“Um...thank you.” She looked towards the door. _I’ll have to tell him before he actually decides to pummel him._  
“Would Karma have actually hurt me?”  
“Maybe,” she said in a small voice. “He...we don’t like it when someone talks crap to the other and try to do something about it. I-I mostly just talk a lot, like you saw, he...,” she smiled slightly, “he on the other hand will probably prank the person or something worse.”  
“Talk about a difference in approach,” Ishimaru said impressed.  
“It’s how it’s always been. He’s amazingly strong and could win any fight he entered.” Even though her voice was still small, it had a hint of admiration to it.  
“So I would’ve ended up in the hospital,” Ishimaru concluded.  
Cathy nodded. “Probably, yeah. Good thing you came around before it was too late.”  
Ishimaru chuckled softly. “Yeah.”  
“There you are,” Karma suddenly said beside her. “Talking to your _sweet_ cousin.”  
“He is actually being sweet. Good that you noticed.”  
“Huh? Really? He’s capable of that?” Karma asked, mock surprised.  
Her smile brightened slightly. “Yes. He is. So there’s no need for what you suggested to happen.”  
“If you say so, sweetheart.” He looked at the sandwich in her hand. “You gonna eat that? It seems like you’ve been holding it for a bit now.”  
She looked at it, actually surprised that it was still there. “Yeah. I should.” She started tentatively eating it.  
“Good. Now let’s go.” He walked next to her back to her brother. On the way over he smiled at Ishimaru, a mischievous glint still prevalent in his eyes.  
Ishimaru sighed. _He’s a good boyfriend, but definitely different._  
“You just looked at him strangely, didn’t you?”  
“What makes you say that?” he asked with a slightly playful tone.  
She looked at him with an exasperated smile. “Because it’s what you do, Karma. I’m pretty sure you feed of manipulating and scaring people.”  
“Aah, like the demons.”  
She shook her head and chuckled softly. “Well, considering you are a demon, it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it.”  
“It does. But you don’t seem to be doing that.” He started stroking her hair gently.  
“Different kind of demoness I guess.”  
“Yeah. One who doesn’t need magic to live. Just pure greatness.”  
“Well, then you wouldn’t need it either.”  
“It’s an additional thing.”  
“I guess people in power need it more.”  
“Exactly,” he said with a smile.  
They reached James who was looking at them and only them. He turned towards Karma. “So?”  
“She agreed. Once we’re back we’ll make up a contract. The payment will go through mine and Cathy’s funds and a bit of your inheritance.” He turned towards Cathy. He hadn’t actually told her that part yet. “Is that alright?”  
She nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good. I’m just not sure that we’ll be able to pay her for as long as we have to.”  
“I can always ask my parents for more.”  
“Would they?” she asked unsurely.  
“Why wouldn’t they? They approve of you and would want to help you and your family.”  
She sighed and shuddered.  
“Cathy?” he asked worriedly.  
She shook her head. “Fine. Just a taxing day.” She looked towards James. “We’ll talk to the family if you want about this.”  
“Yeah.” On a normal day he would be really excited to be moving to a different country and living with his sister’s former guardian, but this was no normal day. Therefore he still felt tired and empty. He hoped that spending more time with his sister would help him.  
“And once the conversations are done, we should book him a ticket. We’ll have to leave at an earlier time to pick him up as well. He also has to pack all of his clothes and whatever he owns.” She shook her head. “No, maybe not all. Everything that is essential at the moment. We can have the rest shipped over afterwards. He knows Japanese, so he should be fine with that. Alex can help him with any problems as could we.” She was rambling her own personal checklist to herself.  
James looked at Karma confused. “Like you saw, she’s good with words and thinking in different ways than me. And at a moment like this, she needs this distraction,” Karma explained.  
James was still confused by the actions of his sister, but nodded nonetheless. She was looking out for him, that was what was important.


	49. “Nerd party”

The next day the trio left for Japan. James was excited about the prospect of pretty much everything. He got the seat near the window and looked out of it in wonder. Next to him was Cathy, who had become silent again. She was reading a book, though her eyes sometimes diverted to her right, or even her left where her boyfriend was sitting. One would expect him to be playing on his handheld console, but instead he was resting against the chair, minding his own business. His eyes sometimes wandered to the siblings next to him and stayed on them. Sometimes James would notice this and look at him annoyed. Instead of saying something then, Karma would just smile slightly and turn his gaze somewhere else, pretending that he hadn’t been looking at the pair.  
Karma was relieved that James was allowed to come with them, because it was clearly benefiting Cathy’s mental health in a way. He had expected nothing else of Alex. She had been more than excited to take in the younger sibling of her previous ward. He presumed she was hoping that James would be like Cathy in a way. But they weren’t. They shared some basic things, but that was pretty much it. He sighed and stood up, reaching for his hand luggage. He took out his own book and started reading it.  
After a while, James asked while leaning over Cathy, “Hey, what’s that?”  
Cathy was startled by her brother’s sudden presence in front of her and held herself back.  
Karma on the other hand was surprised by the interest in his math’s book. He held it up and showed it to the younger sibling. “Stuff for college.”  
James stared from the book to Karma in wonder. “You’re going to study maths?”  
“Yeah,” he said with a smile.  
“I love maths.”  
Karma chuckled and looked at the woman sitting beside him, who was trying to hide her face in her book. “You never said your brother was also into maths, dear.”  
“I saw no need,” she said in a small voice. “He never needed any help. I guess the both of you could go all crazy over maths problems and stuff, but I dunno...”  
He looked at her fondly. “Well, at least now I have something to bond with him over.”  
She removed her book from her face. “You seriously suggesting that you bond with my brother over maths?”  
“Sure. Why not?”  
“Have fun at your nerd party then.”  
“Excuse me, dear, did I just hear you correctly? You just referred to us as nerds?”  
“Well, you are one and you should be very proud of it.”  
He grinned. “Since being one helped me win your heart over, I sure as hell am.” He leant in and kissed her, only to be stopped by James saying, “Oh, come on.” Karma pulled away and saw Cathy smiling at him disbelievingly.  
“It’s true, dear. It did wonders.” She looked towards her brother. “I’m sorry, James. You really shouldn’t have seen it like that.”  
“When then? On our wedding day?”  
Not a second later, a bright red blush appeared on her cheeks. “What? No. I mean... Um... Shut up.”  
James looked towards the pair. It was strange. He had never met this man before and yet here he was, making Cathy blush like crazy at the simplest things. He had clearly been a huge help to her and she in turn to him. He guessed, when it came down to it, he wouldn’t mind this man being his brother-in-law.  
What James didn’t notice that as he was thinking about this, Karma had chuckled and kissed Cathy’s forehead.  
“When we get back home, there’ll be hell to pay,” she said annoyed.  
“Of course, my queen.”  
“Dammit, I can’t believe I’m going to be stuck another 11 hours like this.”  
“It’ll be fine, dear. We’ll just do our own things.”  
“Yes. And no distractions, or flirting or anything untoward. You got that, Karma?”  
“Loud and clear, ma’am.”  
“Good.” So she continued where she had stopped in her book.


	50. Meeting with the guardian

Once they arrived in Japan, Cathy decided that the best thing to do would be for her to meet up with Alex first and then afterwards she could meet James. So Karma was put in charge of keeping an eye on the younger sibling, which neither of them seemed to mind. Though he was still concerned about leaving her alone.  
“I’ll be fine,” she said in a soft voice while she was looking up at him. Her eyes were still as sad as ever, but she had regained some of her confidence. “Just get to know him a bit, okay?”  
He nodded and kissed her on her forehead. “Be careful. If you need me in any way, I’m just a call a way.”  
She smiled. “I know, Karma. Goodbye.”  
He watched her leave. “Bye.”  
As Karma was watching her leave, James sighed next to him. He didn’t know what exactly, but there most definitely was something strange about his sister and this guy.

Cathy met up with Alex in the usual family restaurant. She just ordered something to drink before she started talking to her former guardian. Alex listened intensely and nodded in understanding. Then she brought forward the papers that would have to be handled.  
Cathy looked through them. “No kidding that paperwork’s difficult.”  
“Sorry. I’ll explain as much as I can when he’s here as well.”  
She nodded. “Yeah, thanks. Guess that Karma’ll probably also understand them more.”  
“Maybe. He’ll probably get them in his future as well.”  
“Yeah. If this doesn’t scare him away.” She smiled slightly.  
“Cathy,” Alex said tentatively.  
“Yeah?”  
“I’m sorry.”  
She shook her head. “Thank you. But it’s fine. It’ll be fine. I have him. He makes everything fine.”  
“That’s dangerous.”  
“I know. I don’t intend on relying on him for this kind of support forever, but for now, I can’t help it.”  
Alex nodded. “That’s good. Now let’s get those two over here so I can introduce myself to your brother.”  
“Yeah.” She called them up and they came over.  
Everything was decided, from where they would live to how Alex would be paid. At the end once everything was decided, they went their separate ways. The good thing about where James wound up living was that it was near to Cathy and Karma’s apartment, so he could visit them whenever he wanted.


	51. The visitor

The new school year began for the couple and they both went to their colleges. Cathy became the quiet one again. This time not even bothering to pay attention to the people around her. She always sat by herself in her own corner, dutifully taking notes. Some off her classmates thought it was strange, but nobody dared approach though. That was because she still had her dangerous aura around her.  
During the English lecture the professor told the class that they would have to give a presentation in groups of two in front of the whole class.  
Cathy looked up at him alarmed. She had managed to stay mostly invisible with the way that she had been acting. But now she was being asked to be visible again, like her old self. She felt like disappearing into the ground. She had wanted to study this course for the longest time, but now she was even to afraid to talk in front of all these people. She closed her eyes and held onto her necklace. _Relax, Cathy. It’s fine. You’ll be fine._  
The lecture continued and at the end she got approached by a tall, well-built, brown-haired guy. “Hi,” he said with a confident smile.  
She smiled slightly in return. “Hi.”  
He leant on her desk. “I was wondering whether we could do that groups work together.”  
Her body shrank slightly at the words. “I...I guess. Where would you like to do it?”  
He looked at her like he was living for this. She had seemed so scary before he had approached her, but in reality she was just a shy woman. He shrugged. “Your place or my place I guess. Don’t really do libraries.”  
She nodded. After a pause she said, “My place could do. I have a computer there where we could do the research for it all.”  
He nodded with a grin. “Great. I’m Jun by the way.”  
“Cathy.”

After the lessons the pair walked together to Cathy’s apartment.  
“So, how far do you live?” Jun asked.  
“Not that far. It’s about the same distance from my boyfriend’s and my university.”  
“Wait? You have a boyfriend?”  
She nodded.  
He gaped at her for a second. He couldn’t blame the dude for going after her, she seemed great after all. But her aura had seemed so non-boyfriend material that he had thought she was single. He had hoped to change that during this session. Apparently he had been wrong. “Where does he go to college?”  
“Tōgyō University.”  
“Isn’t that for like...really smart people?”  
“He is really smart, so it makes sense,” she said in a soft voice with a smile.  
“Okay then...” What the hell was he even supposed to think of all this? He knew that smart people fell for slightly less intelligent people a decent amount of the time. Sometimes even for their looks. Could she have gotten captured by one of them and been manipulated into staying with him? If so, he would show this boyfriend who’s boss.  
“We’ve arrived,” Cathy stated as she neared the apartment complex. She took out her keys and first checked the mail, then opened the front door. They continued upstairs and eventually made it to the apartment. “I know it’s not much, but it’s home.”  
She opened the front door and let Jun in. He looked around. What she had said was true, it wasn’t much, just a simple plain old apartment with the needed furniture. But it still had this warm feeling about it.  
“I’ll go get my laptop. You can set your stuff up over there.” She pointed towards a small desk near the window.  
“How did you two pay for all this?”  
“We had enough money,” was all she bothered saying.  
“No kidding.” He took out his worksheet and everything else needed for the presentation.  
Seconds later she came back, carrying a definitely years old computer.  
“I hope the programs on that one are compatible with the ones at our school,” he said with a wry smile.  
“We can check tomorrow if you want. I also don’t mind working at those computers and we can do it during the breaks.”  
He smiled broadly at her. “You’re really into this, aren’t you?”  
She nervously bit the inside of her lip. “It’ll be over faster if we do everything important now. Then...then I don’t have to think about it until it has to be done.”  
“You’re seriously that scared of giving a presentation?”  
Her head dropped down in sorrow. “I’m sorry. I wish I hadn’t become like this.” Her hands tightened on her laptop. She looked back upwards, sadness still in her eyes. “We should get to work.”  
He nodded dutifully. Along with the other reasons, he had actually also been curious as to what she was like. But instead of answers, he got more questions.  
About fifteen minutes later the door opened again. The other resident of the apartment looked over at the pair working diligently. “Ah, I see you’ve brought a guest over.”  
She smiled up at him. Almost everything Jun had seen about his classmate seemingly disappeared. “Yes. We have a groups work for English.”  
“Well in that case I’m sure you’re gonna ace it,” he said with a chuckle as he took off his shoes.  
“Don’t know,” she said in a small voice.  
He looked at her confused. “Why? What do you have to do, Cathy?”  
“Give a presentation in front of the whole class.”  
He winced in sympathy. “Yeah. Doesn’t sound like fun. I wish I could do something to change his mind.” He thoughtfully held his chin. “Maybe if I go talk to your professor.”  
“What?! Karma, have you lost your mind?!” Cathy exclaimed.  
He chuckled. “I meant actually talk if you’re afraid of that and yeah. If it helps you, why not, eh?”  
She rubbed her face. “Karma,” she said in a soft voice. “You can’t just do stuff like that for me, okay? This isn’t like you did before. It’s school work that everyone of the class has to do and me not doing it would put a target on my back. You know that, right?”  
He grinned. “Of course, dear.” He started walking towards the kitchen. “Also, got some homework of my own. So what d’ya say to some takeout?”  
“Yeah. Takeout sounds good.”  
“And also some for your partner if he’s staying for dinner.” Karma faced Jun.  
He stood up. “Thank you for your offer. I am not sure how long I’ll be staying here.”  
“Cool. But don’t try anything funny with her or you might regret it. Many have tried and failed.”  
She looked at her boyfriend with disbelieving eyes. “Don’t make me sound like some feared creature, you idiot. And where are these people you speak of?”  
He tapped his head. “In here.” Then he disappeared into the kitchen.  
Cathy put her face on her crossed arms on the table. “Oh, I fell for an idiot.”  
Jun, now even more confused as before, but still understanding that these two were actually in love, asked, “Um...Cathy are you alright?”  
She shot up. “Yeah. Sorry. I ... He’s got the capacity to really distract me. We should continue our research.”  
“Of course.”


	52. Offer of help

Later that evening Jun left and the takeout was ordered. Once it arrived the couple went to the dining table and started eating. Karma was still looking at his assignment sheet.  
“Is it that difficult?”  
He shook his head. “I just have to go over it one more time to check if they’re all correct.”  
“If you have to do that, then you can just as well eat later,” she said with a frown.  
“I’d rather eat with you and do my assignment at the same time, than eat alone later tonight.”  
“Why?” It wasn’t such an embarrassing statement, but a small blush still formed on her cheeks.  
“’Cause I like spending time with you. And you know, since you’re spending time with your other love.”  
She looked at him annoyed. “Are you suggesting that this food,” she picked up some noodles with her chopsticks, “is some kind of rival for you?”  
“Maybe.”  
She squinted at him with a faint smile on her lips. “Why?”  
He held up his assignment. “Sorry, sweetheart, first have to go through this.”  
She sighed and shook her head. “I guess I’ll just eat in silence then.” So she continued eating, not paying much attention to the red-head sitting opposite her. She was paying so little attention that she hadn’t noticed Karma snapping a picture of her while he was smiling his demonic grin.  
He put his papers to the side. “Okay. I’m done.” He moved his food closer to himself. “So how’s the preparation going?”  
“Good. We’ve pretty much decided on everything we have to talk about and started the PowerPoint. Now it’s just a matter of time.”  
“Has it been decided when you have to give it?”  
She shook her head. “We have to tell the professor the next lesson. We’re going to try and get the first date.”  
“I guess so it’s out of the way the fastest like that,” he said in understanding. “Do you want to practice with me when it’s all done?”  
She looked up at him. “What about any potential assignments?”  
He shrugged. “Priorities. And I can do my assignment at any other time. This is a big deal for you and difficult, so it’s fine.”  
She looked at him seriously. “Teach me how to cook.”  
“Wha?” he asked confused.  
“Teach me how to cook. You said it, didn’t you? That I could help you cook. So I will learn form you so you don’t have to think about that when you get home.”  
He knew that she was right, so said, “Fine. Next time we’re both free, I’ll teach you.”  
“Good. Thank you, Karma.”  
He shrugged with a smile. “Anything for my beautifully cute demoness.”  
She rubbed her face. “More ridiculous every time.”


	53. Explosion of colour

Cathy and Jun decided that the best place to finish the PowerPoint was at their university, since it had different Themes than the ones on Cathy’s computer. The moment the professor had asked about who wanted to do their presentation first, Cathy had shot up, surprising her classmates in the process.  
Now the day was nearing and she was giving Karma her latest practice presentation. He listened intensely, hanging onto her every word with a broad smile on his face. _She’s doing great. As long as she doesn’t think of all the people in her class, she could get the best grades._  
She finished it and sighed. “How was it?”  
“Wonderful.”  
“Are you sure? Maybe I should go over it one last time just to be sure.”  
He stood up and held onto her shoulders. “Cathy, sweetheart, you did amazing. I know you’re gonna be so as well during class, so don’t stress so much about it ok?” He stroked her cheek. “Otherwise that cute face of yours might get wrinkles sooner rather than later.”  
She pouted. “Shut up.” She looked up at him. “What’d ya wanna do then?”  
He checked his watch. “Maybe we could have that cooking lesson I still owe you.”  
Her face brightened. “Sounds great.”  
“We’ll start with something simple. I’ve already decided on what.” He led her to the kitchen and started taking out ingredients. He asked her to fetch a few, obviously the ones on the higher shelves. She looked at him annoyed but still managed to get most of them. However the last ingredient was out of reach even though she was standing on her toes and stretching really far.  
“You are the cutest,” said the loving voice of her boyfriend before two strong hands grabbed her by the waist and lifted her up.  
The moment she got put down, she looked at him annoyed. “What was that all about?”  
“My kitchen, my rules. So it’ll be best if you do whatever I say,” he said with a playful smile.  
She scoffed with a smile and rolled her eyes. “Oh please. So what’s the first step?”  
He explained everything and let her do everything by herself. He just kept an eye on her to make sure she didn’t cause any unnatural disasters.  
Things were going fine till she turned towards him. She frowned. “How did that get there?”  
“What?”  
She reached up and stroked her finger against his cheek. Then she held up her finger to show some sauce that had somehow managed to get onto Karma’s cheek.  
This almost caused an emergency shutdown in the red-heads brain. He didn’t know why, but out of all the things, this most definitely was one of the most embarrassing ones. Of course he would not show her this, so instead, he grinned at her demonically. “’Pears you also want food somewhere else.”  
Her smile turned more playful. “Really? What makes you say that?”  
“Just a hunch.”  
Then the first bit of food was thrown. More followed until the couple and the kitchen were an explosion of colour.  
Cathy fell to the ground and sighed with a smile. “How long ago is it that I’ve said that we’re going to hell?”  
He sat next to her and smiled at her. “Doesn’t matter. It’s something I like hearing you say anyway.”  
She looked at him confused. “Why?”  
“’Cause it means that we’ll both end up there and have more time together.”  
Fortunately for her, the colouring of her face couldn’t be seen under the various ingredients. “Just shut up.”  
He stuck out his tongue. “Never.”  
She sighed and got up on her knees. Then she kissed him. “Good. ’Cause I love hearing you talk.”  
This time his embarrassment couldn’t be stopped as his cheeks started reddening. “Dammit, sweetheart, you did it again.”  
“Doesn’t matter,” she said in a soft voice. “I’d say we’re pretty much equal today.”  
The voice she was using was not helping him calm down. “Guess we’ll see then.”  
She sat back down. “So, who’s gonna clean up this kitchen? I usually do the cleaning up, but,” she gave him a shrewd smile, “you are the one who started this.”  
“Can also do it together.”  
She chuckled. “Yeah. Like that’d turn out alright. Clearly us in this kinda serious situation isn’t good.” She leant against his shoulder. “Which is good, ’cause I like those kinds of moments, Karma. Our relationship isn’t mostly romance, just movies and hanging out and that’s honestly the best thing in the world. And every minute with you is just pure bliss.”  
“You sure know how to make a man feel special,” he said, knowing that no matter what she had said, if she continued talking to him like that, he would lose.  
She smiled and shook her head. She looked into his eyes. “No, just you. ’Cause you deserve it.”  
He stroked her cheek affectionately. “Says the perfect girlfriend who deserves the world.”  
She giggled. “Gods, I love you.”  
A rumble was heard.  
Karma laughed. “Guess your stomach’s becoming a mood killer as well. Since we didn’t manage to make anything today, how ’bout takeout again?”  
“Yeah. We really are living the student life that way. What shall we have today?”  
“Pizza?”  
She grinned. “Smart choice.” She walked over to her phone. “Though I’d expect nothing less from a genius like you.”  
He stood up and walked behind her. The moment she had finished the call, he held her around her waist. “Hey, dear.”  
“Yes, Karma?”  
He smiled at her demonically. “Punishment time.”  
Fortunately for Cathy this time the tickle fight didn’t last as long, because soon enough the bell rang. Karma got up and went to the door. The moment he opened it the delivery girl looked at him confused. There was a tall, one could guess handsome man standing in front of her, with all kinds of food over him. And the reason for him being covered in it was nothing like she had seen before in her deliveries or anything really. She held the pizza boxes in front of her. “Your pizzas, sir.”  
“Thanks.” He looked behind him. “You know where my wallet is, right?”  
“Yeah,” said a female voice from within the apartment. Then the woman appeared, clearly in the same predicament as the man.  
_This is one weird couple, _she thought as she accepted the money.__  
Once everything had been done, Karma closed the door.  
Cathy was shaking her head with a disbelieving smile. “And yet again, we’ve freaked someone out.”  
“Ah well. Just shows that we know how to have fun.”  
“Until we have to clean the kitchen that is.” She looked at her trousers. “We’re gonna ruin all of the furniture like this.”  
“How ’bout we just eat on the floor then?”  
“Sure. I’ll be easier to clean the whole floor anyway.” She went to the kitchen and grabbed two glasses. Once she sat down she smelt her clothes. “Gonna hafta do some special washing for these,” she said uneasily.  
“Can just as well take ’em to the dry cleaner.”  
“Are you sure? It’ll cost money.”  
He chuckled. “Oh, sweetheart, I never knew you were so stingy.”  
She looked at him seriously, disbelieving clear in her eyes. “I am not. I just want us spending our money wisely and don’t want to spend it on things that we can do ourselves.” She started eating her pizza. Once the pizza was finished, she let out a large belch.  
As a result like always, Karma started laughing.  
She sighed and looked at him bemused. “Really? You still think it’s funny after all these years?”  
“It’s just amazing that yours are louder than mine.”  
“I really don’t think that amazing is the right word to describe it, Karma.”  
“You’re right. Maybe interesting,” he said thoughtfully.  
“Yeah. That’s more accurate. But hey, at least there’s something I’m undeniably better at than you.”  
“That’s true, sweetheart. Only a shame you can’t really brag about it to other people.”  
She looked at him amused. “Yeah. It’d be quite something.”  
“But then again, so are you.” He leant down and kissed her.


	54. The spider

A shocked sound followed by a slightly frightened “Oh crap” emerged from the kitchen.  
Karma stood up and walked over to see what was going on. “Everything alright?” he asked, poking his head through the door.  
Cathy vigorously nodded her head. “Yeah. Fine. Just fine. Nothing to worry about.”  
He looked at her mildly amused. “Sure, sweetheart? You seem kinda shocked to me.”  
Her eyes travelled towards the sink, where a big spider with long legs was now hanging. She shook her head. “It’s fine. It’s not dangerous or anything.”  
“So you gonna get rid of it?” he asked while inspecting the spider.  
“Um…yeah?” she said unsurely. She went towards the cupboard and got out a wide glass and a piece of paper. Now she was looking at it again and she was even more unsure than before, seeing it in all its glory. She wasn’t exactly scared of spiders or any kind of insect for that matter. But seeing them where they shouldn’t be, like in her sink for example, just freaked her out.  
She held the glass above the spider, thinking of how best to put it over it while feeling her heart beating in her chest. Eventually she took a deep breath and said, “Can’t do it.”  
“Looks like I’ll have to do it then,” Karma said with a smile. He started walking towards the bedroom.  
“Wait. Karma, what are you doing?” Cathy asked confused.  
He gave her a knowing smile. “You’ll see, sweetheart. Just rest up a bit. It’ll be done before you know it.”  
She looked at him askance, but went to the sofa to rest nonetheless. She really wondered what kind of antics her boyfriend was going to get up to now.  
Soon enough Karma re-emerged, but dressed in a suit of armour made out of their bed gear.  
Cathy’s first reaction was to stare at him in unbelieving shock with a smile on her mouth. Then she started laughing. “What?” she managed to get out.  
“Have to do it properly. This time I’ll be your knight in shining armour,” he said with a smile.  
“Idiot in shining armour’s more like it. And I wouldn’t call our bed sheets shining, Karma. ’Cause that probably means there’s something wrong with them.”  
“Now this knight has something to do.” He disappeared into the kitchen and came out seconds later with the spider stuck in the glass. “Mind opening up the window?”  
She got up quickly and opened it. Then Karma threw out the spider.  
Cathy was looking at him with a combination of a disbelieving and loving smile. “You really are a knight in shining armour.” She hugged him. “Thank you.”  
“Course.” He returned the hug, though it was more difficult with the pillow stuck to his front. He let go of her for a bit and removed his ‘armour’. When he was done he saw his girlfriend still looking at him lovingly. Then before he knew it she had pulled him down for a kiss. The surprise by which it had taken him made him momentarily shut down. When he was released he looked at her slightly shocked, knowing that he was blushing.  
“What? A knight deserves a reward for his hard work, doesn’t he?” Cathy said with a grin.  
He managed to regain enough of his composure to said, “Yeah.” He looked at her, trying to think of something to do to get her back. When he thought of what to do, he swung her over his shoulder. “The knight also thinks a good reward is to cuddle with the queen.”  
Cathy had lost it to giggling. “Oh, for god’s sake. What about dinner?”  
“Take out.”  
She sighed. “Fine.” She stroked his cheek softly. “Thank you, Karma. I’m really glad to have you in my life.”  
A soft smile formed on his lips before he took her into his arms again.


	55. The presentation

It was finally the day for the presentation and Cathy was freaking out. Though luckily she was still able to hide most of it from Karma. He told her that she had no reason to and that when she was standing in front of the class, she should just concentrate on the empty places between her fellow classmates and think of him being there. Even though she acted annoyed by his suggestion, she kept it in mind. Who knew, maybe it would end up helping.  
The first periods passed peacefully, making her more anxious than not. Then it was time for English. Jun had decided to sit next to her, so they could easily stay together for the whole thing.  
The professor called their names and it was go time.  
They greeted the class and started talking. At one point Cathy closed her eyes and zeroed in on an empty seat. She imagined her boyfriend sitting there and all her nerves seemingly disappeared. She continued talking confidently, like she wasn’t being graded for what she was saying.  
By the end of the presentation, the students were hanging onto their every word. When the pair went silent, the class clapped. They were even happy about seeing this new side of their classmate. However, that comment caused her to become reclusive again. “Thank you,” she said in a small voice.  
The professor said that he would give the feedback after all the presentations, but that the pair definitely had passed.  
When they were allowed back to their seats, Cathy looked away from Jun.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“They talked about how great I was when I was being open like that. But...I can’t be like that when he’s not involved. It’s because of him...because I had imagined him being here that I managed to say everything. They like the version of me I hardly am and I don’t know what to do with it.”  
“Just stay yourself. If they don’t like this version of you, it’s their loss.”  
“Really?”  
“I mean it. I had a lot of fun working with you, Cathy. You’re really amazing.”  
“Thank you,” she said shyly.  
“Wait. That’s not a no-go thing right?” Jun asked nervously.  
She chuckled. “No. Hitting on me would. But then again, like he said, I’d turn you down no problem.”  
“Yeah. He’s just got this scary aura around him.”  
She smiled fondly at the thought. “Yeah. A really beautiful, scary aura.”


	56. Lunch break

It was their second year in college. Today was a free afternoon for Karma so he decided to go Cathy’s college. He saw her coming out of the main building with a small smile, talking to some classmates. He looked at her with a grin and neared her.  
“Afternoon, dear,” he said once he was close enough.  
She looked at him with an equally big grin and took his hand. “Good afternoon, Karma.” She checked her phone. “You seem to have arrived at a reasonable time, without skipping classes. That’s good.”  
The look in his eyes shifted to playful. “Of course. I did promise, didn’t I? And I know it’d be bad to skip them now.”  
She nodded. “That you did. So wanna go somewhere?”  
“Oh, sweetheart, you know I do,” he said in his Southern accent.  
She giggled. “Shut up. Let’s just go already.”  
“Sure thing, ma’am.”  
“There you are, Cathy!” a guy from her class, Saito, suddenly shouted, coming out of the main building. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I just wanted to say that you look exceptionally beautiful today. So I was wondering...” As he was talking, his eyes travelled upwards and finally landed on the tall red head standing next to her with a treacherous aura around him. The strange thing was that he was smiling at Saito was pretty much unnerving. He looked at Cathy again and saw that this guy’s arm was now around her waist. He backed off slightly. “Um...um...boyfriend?”  
Karma grinned. “Correct. What were you wondering?”  
“Nothing,” he said in a small voice. “I’m sorry.” He started awkwardly turning away. “I should go,” he said and fast walked away from the couple.  
“Now where were we?” Karma asked casually, as if the previous conversation hadn’t just happened.  
“We were going to go eat some place.” She felt like rubbing her face in embarrassment, both because Karma had just pretty much scared the living daylight out of one of her classmates and because she had been the cause for it.  
“You alright, dear?”  
“Yeah. Let’s just go.”  
As the couple were walking off the main campus, Karma casually said, “Maybe I’ll kill him.”  
“Karma, no,” she said seriously, though there was still a hint of happiness to her voice.  
He looked at her disappointed. “Why’d you say that, dear?”  
“Because,” she held her finger up, “and this is very important: killing someone is illegal.”  
“Aah. I see. And you don’t want me to get caught.”  
“Yeah. And I don’t especially appreciate the thought of my boyfriend committing murder on my behalf.”  
“On whose behalf then?”  
She finally let out a small chuckle. “How about no one’s, you idiot? You can’t become a bureaucrat stuck in jail. I know they sometimes get sent there after doing bad things and not being able to cover up what they did, and I know you’d be able to cover up anything bad you do pretty easy. But murder is this line that even you shouldn’t cross.”  
He chuckled. “I guess that goes along with kidnapping you.”  
She squinted at him. “Yeah. And like I said then that’s not in your nature. Your main nature is manipulating, pranking and sometimes beating up people. It’s good that you’ve lessened on the beating up, because that would also be bad for your future.”  
“Nice to know you’re putting so much thought into my future, dear,” he said slightly embarrassed. “But are you saying I’m allowed to prank him then?”  
She opened her mouth and closed it again. “Um...nothing too damaging, maybe.”  
He chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.”  
She shook her head and looked at him out of the corner of her eye with a smile. “What have I gotten myself into?” she said under her breath.  
“The best relationship of your life.”  
She looked at him in incredulity. “Don’t get cocky around me, Karma.” She held up her finger again.  
“And why not?” he asked with a teasing grin.  
“Because...because...you...” She was tongue tied.  
He laughed. “You really are cute.”  
She held her head down in defeat. “I hate you.”  
He leant down and said in her ear. “No, dear, the right word is love.” Then he pecked her on the cheek.  
Apparently this was the last straw for her embarrassment because not a second later a full blown blush formed on her cheeks. She looked at him annoyed. “We’re gonna eat and then I’m going back to my college.”  
He studied her. How annoyed was she truly with him? Had he gone too far this time?  
“Hey, you idiot,” she said, snapping him out of his thought process. “I said we’re gonna eat, so that also means that you actually have to come with me, into the store, to get something to eat.”  
“Yeah.”  
She gave him a shrewd smile. “Did you actually think that you’d gone too far this time?”  
“Maybe,” he admitted.  
“Oh, my precious Karma, there’s no way that something as simple as that could push me too far. You’d have to do a whole lot worse than that.”  
“Really? How much worse?”  
She shrugged. “Dunno. But I hope we don’t reach that point.”  
“Me too. I’d hate to make you mad.”  
She smiled shyly. “Yeah.”


	57. “One day”

The moment Cathy got back to her campus, all the girls swarmed around her, commenting on how handsome, hot or some variation of the words he was. She thanked them and tried to move on, but then someone asked her something that made her stop cold in her tracks. She asked her whether Cathy had done it yet with her boyfriend.  
Cathy looked at the woman confused. “What?”  
“Surely you have.”  
She shook her head and looked at her with pure disapproval. “That’s none of your business.”  
“So I’ll take that as a no. What a disappointment. If it had been me, I would have gone for it the first chance I got.”  
“Good thing it isn’t then, because he’s not someone who you can disrespect to the extent of just seeing him as a ‘hot’ guy. He’s so much more than that. That’s why I love him.”  
“And yet you haven’t made love to him.”  
Cathy looked at her like she was about to commit bloody murder. “What does it matter?” she said quietly. “Not every relationship needs that to prove that they love each other. Ours definitely doesn’t. So if you don’t mind, I have to get back to my lessons.” She stalked off. But while she was doing it, her mind was racing as to why she had never even considered doing it with him. The moment she realised, she sighed. _I’m gonna have to talk to him about this,_ she thought sadly.

That evening the couple were sitting on the bed. Cathy had considered the sofa, but for some reason it hadn’t seemed right to do it there.  
“So what’s wrong?” The moment he had seen her at her college gate, Karma had noticed something was off about her. She had refused to tell him what it was and just told him that she would tell him once they were home. But the unsettling thing was, the closer they got to their apartment, the more nervous she had seemed.  
Cathy was playing with her sleeves and looking at the ground. She didn’t even know how to start the conversation. Or worst of all, how he would react. She knew that it was extremely unlikely that he would stop loving her for something like this, but it was still so nerve-racking, so personal. _So what? He already knows a lot of personal stuff anyway._ She opened her mouth and closed it again. Then opened it and said, “The girls at my school thought you were hot.”  
He looked at her confused. “Okay...”  
“It’s true. You really are. You’re so beautiful, both inside and out. Outside is just a great add-on to your personality. Your new hairstyle also helps with it.” She chewed the inside of her lip. “Then someone asked me whether we had ... done it yet. I said that it was pretty much none of her business, but she interpreted it correctly as a no. And then I realised something.” She looked away even further. “That no matter how handsome you may become, I don’t want to do it. I don’t feel anything compelling me to do it. I love you to death, but I just can’t. Even the thought of it is repulsive to me. I’m sorry.”  
After the whole speech leading up to the final reveal he was silent. He took in every single word and nodded. “I know. You don’t have to apologise.” He leant back and used his hands on the bed to keep him up. “Truth be told, I don’t really want to either. Like what you said, I love you as well, but I don’t really feel anything. You’re the cutest, most beautiful woman in the world, but I guess I don’t see the point. Or it’s not my thing.”  
She looked at him surprised. “Really?”  
He grinned at her. “Is it that difficult to believe, sweetheart?”  
“No ... but ... maybe,” she said, entirely lost for words. She most definitely hadn’t expected it to turn out like _this_.  
He shrugged. “Tis was tis.”  
“Oh gods, I love you,” she said relieved.  
He chuckled. “I love you too, sweetheart.” He went in for a kiss. “Also, I’m pretty sure that if I did have that feeling, I still wouldn’t have minded. I love you for who you are and wouldn’t want you any other way.”  
Tears started forming in her eyes and she hid her face against his chest. He looked at her surprised. Nonetheless he started stroking her head gently. “Can you stop being such a perfect boyfriend?”  
“Nah. Too much effort and I like it just the way it is.”  
“I really want to marry you one day, Karma,” she said in the quietest voice possible.  
There was no way the bright red blush that formed on his cheeks could have been stopped. He tried thinking of some witty reply, but his brain had gone on total shut down after the confession. So he just smiled at her fondly and kissed the top of her head. “One day.”  
She giggled, then turned to look back at him. “We’re actually pretty much a couple made in heaven, right?”  
“I’d say hell.”  
“Maybe.” She fell on the bed and turned away from him. “But as much as you are a demon, you are also like a god in my eyes.”  
There was no way that his face could become any redder than it already was, so he just looked at her with a loving smile. “Ah, so I’m your demon and god, eh? So now you’re also my goddess, queen of course and demoness.”  
Her body shook slightly from the laughter. “Yeah. As always, shows that we can truly come up with the weirdest nicknames for each other.” They stayed in silence for a while until Cathy shot up and looked Karma in the eyes. “What about kids?”  
He looked at her uncomfortably, the blush of earlier returning. “Don’t you think it’s a bit early to be talking about that stuff?”  
“Since we’ve got those out of the way, why not? And it’s an important topic before we do get married.”  
All the twists and turns this conversation was taking made him want to cover his head in the sand for a change. But because of the determined look in her eyes, he said, “I don’t think so.”  
She nodded. “Thought the same. We’ll pretty much end up both having a full time job, at least I hope I do. We won’t have much time to spend with them and I wouldn’t want my child to end up not seeing their parents most of their childhood.”  
“How would we even...?”  
“Adoption,” she said in an obvious tone.  
He nodded. “Yeah. But we’re still reasonably young. See how we think of it in a few years.”  
She nodded. “Did your parents ever say anything about wanting grandkids?”  
He shrugged. “Don’t remember or care. It’s our life, not theirs.”  
“True.” She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. “I’m truly grateful that you turned out to be such a great maths tutor, Karma. Otherwise I would’ve never had the chance to get this far with you.”  
The playful look in his eyes was dancing. “It’s only ’cause you were such an awesome student.”  
“True.”  
“What d’ya wanna do now?”  
“Sleep,” she said sheepishly.  
He chuckled. “Too taxing a conversation for the great queen?”  
Cathy looked at him with a disbelieving and loving look.  
“How about something else like cuddling?”  
“I could get behind that,” she said with a small smile.  
“Good.”


	58. Perfect answers

It was two years later and the time leading up to Karma’s interview was more nerve-racking for Cathy than for Karma himself. So to calm herself she had made up a bunch of questions which she thought would come up. She told him about it and that he should come to the kitchen for a practice-interview.  
He walked in the kitchen with a casual smile.  
She in turn stood up and shook his hand. “Mister Akabane, pleased to meet you,” she said in her most professional sounding voice.  
The amusement in his eyes increased as he shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you, Miss Pravina.”  
“Please sit,” she indicated his usual chair at the dinner table.  
“Thank you.” He sat down and looked at her. “You know, Miss Pravina, you have the strangest resemblance to my great girlfriend. Maybe you could meet her and see how truly amazing she is.”  
Instead of letting the usual embarrassment creep up on her, she just looked at him seriously. “Karma, this is important. So no flirting or whatever. Promise.”  
He looked at her playfully. “Can’t make any promises I can’t keep. You just look to cute not to flirt with.”  
She held her hand to her head in exhaustion. “Karma,” she groaned. “This is important. I know that you’ll undoubtedly do amazing at it. But I want to be 100% sure that there’s nothing you aren’t prepared for.”  
He indicated her cards. “So those are all the questions you could find for this kind of interview?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Ok, sweetheart. Ask away,” he said cheerfully.  
She looked at him seriously.  
“Oh yeah. Please continue, Miss Pravina.”  
“Thank you, Mister Akabane.” Then she started asking questions and without fail he answered them perfectly, how the interviewer would want them to be answered. He didn’t leave a single room for error.  
But as he continued talking, she started looking at him differently. Not as a potential employer, but as his girlfriend. A girlfriend who was loving every single word coming out of his mouth. She loved it, loved him. How he spoke so confidently about himself and his capabilities. She could also speak confidently if she wanted to, but never about herself. She had never had the self confidence he had had since an early age. He had naturally made her more confident, but she knew that she would never reach his level. Which wasn’t a bad thing. It was who she was, she knew. And he loved her for that.  
“Cathy?” The moment Karma had stopped talking he saw her looking at him lovingly. She had looked at him like that in the past, but hardly ever with such intensity.  
Him calling her name snapped her out of her trance. She looked into his eyes and said softly, “I really love you. You know that, right?”  
This was a turn that he had not been expecting. “Of course I do,” he said with a smug smile, though the blush was still obvious on his face.  
She giggled. “Oh, my precious dear. You really are a terrible liar when it comes down to me.” She looked at her cards. “I’d say you’re prepared enough. Wanna watch something or prepare more by yourself?”  
He checked his wristwatch. “Watching something sounds like fun.”  
She got up. “Good. Let’s check what’s on.” She started walking towards the sitting room.  
“Probably nothing as great as the potential movie about you.”  
She squinted at him with disbelieving eyes. “Quiet you. Even if they had turned my _great_ life into a movie, it wouldn’t have brought in a lot of money.” She grinned up at him. “Though I’m sure with you there, a lot of girls would’ve come just to see you.”  
“Ah yeah. You’ve got a point there. We’d end up being this celebrity couple with no privacy.”  
“That’s not the point I’m trying to make. But yeah, no privacy would’ve sucked.”  
“Then I could’ve been your bodyguard.”  
“Dear, I think you’re taking this a bit, just a tiny bit, too far.” She looked at the cards. “Though I’m sure soon you’ll be famous in a different way.”  
He chuckled. “Are you suggesting I’ll become famous once I become a true bureaucrat?”  
She shrugged. “To some people. You did say that once you were in power, you were gonna give the space research centre a budget increase.”  
“You really remember the randomest crap I tell you,” he said impressed.  
She plopped down on the sofa. “Of course I do. You said them after all.”  
He sat down next to her. “So?”  
She pulled him into a kiss by his chin. When she pulled back she pressed her thumb against his bottom lip. “And how could I ever forget a word that came out of this beautiful mouth.”  
All he could do was stare at her speechlessly as his face became redder and redder.  
She laughed and let go of him. Then she pumped her arms in the air. “Yay. Victory,” she said with a big grin.  
This snapped him out of his embarrassment and a playful smile appeared on his face. “Oh, if you think you’ve won this, you’re dead wrong.” Then he went on to attack her with a barrage of tickles, making her laugh for another reason and beg him to stop.  
Eventually he felt charitable enough to do so and looked at lovingly. He helped her straighten up and wrapped his arms around her before he kissed her temple. “You did good, sweetheart. I’m gonna have to step up my game to be able to embarrass you as much as you just did.”  
She grinned at him. “So for now I’ve got the crown?”  
“For now, yeah. But I’m sure I’ll catch up with you in no time.”  
She shook her head with a smile. “I know you will,” she said under her breath. “Just don’t get too cocky when it comes down to the interview. Okay? Confidence and manipulation are fine, just not cockiness,” she said seriously.  
He laughed. “Cathy, you do realise right that manipulation in worse than cockiness?”  
“Yeah, but cockiness won’t get you the job.”  
“I seriously love you, Cathy,” he said before he kissed her cheek. “Now let’s find something slightly less enjoyable than you.”  
“Yes, sir.” She picked up the remote control and switched on the TV.


	59. Trespass

It was the day before Karma’s interview at the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Investment. He was looking through the cupboards in the bathroom, trying to find some certain small objects.  
“You looking for these?” the voice of his girlfriend asked behind him.  
He turned around and saw her looking at him with a knowing smile, bobby pins in hand. He nodded and reached for them.  
She shook her head, held them further away and held her finger up in a lecturing manner. “I’m gonna give them to you. But you have to promise me you won’t get caught. Tomorrow’s too big a day to screw up over something like this.”  
He still took a pin away from her with no problems. “I know, dear. I’m just gonna check it out.”  
She shook her head disbelievingly. “And undoubtedly leave a prank behind.”  
He shrugged. “Something to let them know I was there, yeah.”  
“Just don’t go too overboard, Karma.”  
He kissed her on the cheek. “Of course not. I know how to hold back.”  
“Please give me an example,” she said faintly amused.  
“When I didn’t beat up that bastard that asked you to be his personal maid when I found him.”  
Her cheeks reddened to an extreme. “What? Whe-when did that happen?”  
He chuckled. “I’ll tell you later. See ya.”  
“God dammit, Karma, I hate you so much!” she shouted before he left through the door after he playfully stuck his tongue out at her. She collapsed to the ground. “Even after seven years, you do these things for me. And make me so embarrassed in the process.” She leant against the wall. “I should find something to embarrass you with as well. It’ll be fun that way.” She continued thinking. _Common, Cathy, think. What will embarrass that beautiful man? It’s pretty much the same to a certain extent. Maybe some sweet surprise._  
She looked towards the kitchen. _I can show him how good his lessons were._ She got up, all giddy. She loved doing things for him, so this would be a great thing to do to show off the fruits of their labour in the kitchen. Then they could sit together and he could tell her what the hell had happened between him and this man.

Karma happily walked towards the old Class E building, still feeling great after his girlfriend’s reaction. Out of all the times he had embarrassed her, this time was undoubtedly the best. She had also said that she hated him, which she didn't say that much now that he thought about it. Luckily he knew how her brain worked and it was another way of saying, “I love you a lot, but this is just too much that I’m saying I hate you.” He chuckled to himself.  
Finally he made it to the building and unlocked the door effortlessly with the pin. He walked to the old classroom and could already feel a surge of nostalgia coming towards him. He was admiring it when someone else entered the classroom: Nagisa.  
Nagisa seemed surprised by Karma’s presence.  
Karma in return held up his bobby pin and said that Nagisa was also trespassing.  
Nagisa sighed. “Let me guess, she let you borrow it?”  
He chuckled. “Under the strict condition that I don’t get caught. Guess I’m gonna have to deal with the consequences of this when I get back.”  
It was weird seeing him like this every time. Nagisa knew that Karma loved Cathy, that wasn’t it. But every time he even mentioned her, his whole body shifted into something more easygoing. “I’m sure she’ll understand when you tell her it’s just me.”  
“Hopefully,” he said thoughtfully. “Either way we’re gonna have a serious conversation about something.” He looked around. “Want to check out the rest?”  
“Yes.”

The friends walked through the main building and the mountain, memories of their school lives there resurfacing. While they had been walking outside, Karma pranked Nagisa into him almost falling off a ledge. Nagisa shouted at him, but Karma had the face of no regret.  
As the pair was walking around the school grounds, Nagisa considered asking him something. It was kind of personal, but he was curious about it. And considering how old they both were, it was a possibility. “Hey, Karma, can I ask you something?” he asked unsurely.  
Karma looked at him with an intrigued smile. “Course.”  
Nagisa thought of the perfect wording for his question. “Are you going to propose to her at some point?”  
A small blush formed on the red-head’s cheeks. He smiled gently. “’Course. Kinda promised her a few years ago. But not any time soon. With me getting the job soon and her at some other point, it might not be the wisest.” He chuckled. “If I did it now, she wouldn’t exactly reject me, but still say that we can’t yet, ’cause of our financial state. I’d rather have us have a stable life before I ask her,” he grinned broadly with the love obvious in his eyes, “and she says yes.”  
Honestly Nagisa had been kind of surprised by Karma’s explanation. It made sense of course. But the fact that it was so well thought out just showed to him again how much Karma knew his girlfriend and how her mind worked. He heard another chuckle and saw Karma smiling softly.  
“Um, Karma?”  
“Yeah. Sorry. Just thought of what she’d say if I proposed soon and as expected, really cute.” He looked around. “Wanna check out the rest?”  
“Yeah. Sure.”  
Eventually it was time to go back home and they said their goodbyes to each other.

Karma was smiling with a content smile while walking back home. He had had fun and was looking forward to telling Cathy about it. Of course he knew that that would have to wait for the other important thing. _Wonder how she’ll react when I tell her the whole story._  
He opened the door to his apartment and smelt the amazing aroma of cooking. He blinked and went towards the kitchen. There he saw his girlfriend singing to herself as she was making something that he couldn’t see. Either way it smelt so good that he was spellbound. At what point had he taught her so well that she could do this? Or had she been learning by herself when he hadn’t been home?  
“Cathy?” he said in a quiet voice, not wanting to startle her.  
She looked at him with a smile. “Welcome back. You’re lucky, it’s almost done.”  
“Thank you. So, you’re cooking for me?”  
She nodded shyly. “Well yeah. I thought it’d be nice for you to relax before your big day and you’ve been talking about how great this meal is for the longest time. And since I know you have a great taste in pretty much anything, I thought, why not? It was quite easy to find on the internet actually. I also used everything that you taught me before to do this. So it’s mainly thanks to you. But I guess I kinda messed up my timing because I wanted it to be ready the moment you arrived. You might have to tutor me more if you have time.”  
He looked at her with awe as a small blush appeared on his cheeks, which now matched his girlfriend’s.  
It had been her intention to embarrass him, but in the end when it came down to it, she was still shy about certain things. It was a totally different way of showing him she loved him and she wasn’t used to it yet.  
“You keep saying that I’m an amazing boyfriend, but you really are an amazing girlfriend, Cathy,” he said after a short pause.  
“Huh? That doesn’t make sense. You cook for me on an almost daily basis and sometimes I also cook the meals when you’re too busy, like today. I mean ... I did intend on doing it to embarrass you, but also because I know you deserve it.”  
He sighed and put his hand on her head. “Cathy, for the so manieth time, you may be shorter than me, but you are in no way lesser than me. So just take the compliment and finish cooking the meal.” His smile fit for a demon appeared on his face. “Or there will be consequences.”  
She pouted and turned back to the pan. “You suck.”  
He chuckled. “I guess that’s a way to accept a compliment.” He rubbed her head. “But you should learn to accept them more from me. We’ve known each other for nine years and have been together for almost seven. So you know everything I say to you’s meant and you deserve to hear it.”  
For some reason unknown to Cathy, tears started forming in her eyes. She turned her whole frame, making sure he couldn’t see them. “Yeah. Thank you,” she said in a small voice. She took a deep breath. “So, how did your trespassing go?”  
“You really gonna call it that?”  
She shrugged. “Tis what tis right? So how was it?”  
“Alright. Saw Nagisa there as well.”  
“Hmm. So you did get seen. At least he’s not likely to tell anyone. I guess it’s his first day of work tomorrow.”  
“Yeah.”  
“How’s he doing?”  
“Alright,” he said in a playful tone.  
She wiped the tears away from her eyes and looked at him suspiciously. “Let me guess, you pranked him.”  
“Yeah.”  
She laughed. “Gods, I’ve fallen for an idiot. What’d you do?”  
“Stop him from falling.”  
“And let me guess, you were the cause for the fall.”  
Again, Karma showed the face of no regret along with him sticking his tongue out.  
“And yet again, I question how I fell for you,” she said with a loving look in her eyes, but defeat in the rest of her face.  
“Because I’m such an amazing boyfriend,” he cited.  
“Yeah. But I was in love with you before we got together, remember? And even then.” She shook her head and sighed. “But hey, I’m not gonna stop giving my heart what it wants and I know as weird as falling for you was, you are definitely a part of my life that I don’t want to lose.”  
He smiled fondly at her. However, before anything more could be said, the timer went off. She switched it off and started getting out everything to serve the food with.  
“Want any help?”  
“No. I’ll be fine. Just sit at the table and wait to be served.”  
“You’re really taking this seriously, aren’t you?” he said with a wry smile.  
“It’s important, so yeah. Now this woman needs to concentrate, so she’d appreciate it if there were no beautiful men here to distract her.”  
“Of course, dear.” He left the kitchen dutifully.  
_I managed to embarrass him slightly, but I ended up being more embarrassed than him. I doubt I’ll get my crown back anytime soon. Especially if he’s gonna tell me about that horrible dude._  
She set the table, a smile still on her face. Once dinner was served and the first bites had been taken, she looked at him seriously. “So, what happened?”  
“You seriously want that to be the first thing I tell you?”  
“Yeah. Out with it, Karma. How’d you even find out about him?”  
“Your class was nice enough to keep a log of the customers and when they came. I checked the ones that came around the time before you came to visit us and found him no problem,” he said with a proud smile.  
“I don’t recall us sharing that information with anyone, which means,” she sighed, “you did kinda go overboard in finding out who it was. Good thing you didn’t get caught then. When did you go after him then?”  
He chuckled. “I didn’t exactly go after him. It was just a coincidence really. I was thinking of hurting him in some way and saw him at the train station. Just had a little chat with him. That’s all.”  
When it came down to him, she knew there was no such thing as ‘just a little chat’. “Karma, what did you say?” As predicted, her cheeks were starting to get redder.  
“That if he comes near you again, I’ll kill him.”  
Her face was a combination of a disbelieving smile and a disapproving frown. “Karma, for God’s sake, you can’t just go threatening people’s lives like that.”  
“It wasn’t just.” He looked into her eyes. “He said something inappropriate to you, something which made me want to send him to the hospital or morgue. Like I said, I didn’t beat him up and he listened and stayed away from you. So it’s all good in the end.”  
She opened and closed her mouth. Eventually she said, “Ok.”  
“You alright?”  
She nodded shyly. “It’s just, we weren’t even together yet and you were already willing to do things like that for me. I guess it makes sense really. Of course the perfect best friend would turn into a perfect boyfriend.”  
He shrugged. “I already loved you then so it’s no big.” He grinned at her. “Though I could have stood for you using the term perfect best friend in the past.”  
She chuckled and shook her head. “No, Karma. I would have never called you that and you know it. Have you got any idea how embarrassing that would have been?”  
His grin widened.  
She rubbed her face. “Oh, gods I hate you.”  
He smiled at her, love obvious in his eyes before he went back to his meal.  
As the pair was enjoying their meal in relative silence, Karma curiously looked up at his girlfriend. She had calmed down from the previous conversation and was now eating with a content smile. “What would you say if I proposed to you in the foreseeable future?”  
Her hand stopped moving towards her mouth and she looked up at him with her mouth slightly agape. She blinked multiple times, wrapping her head around the question. Finally she let out a nervous breath. “What?”  
“Just curious,” he said with a smile. “Not like it’s gonna happen any time soon.”  
“Why ask then?” A small blush had formed on her cheeks. She on the other hand didn’t know whether to be more annoyed or embarrassed by the question.  
He reached out and stroked her cheek with his thumb. “Like I said, just curious.”  
She groaned slightly out of annoyance; a small, loving smile on her lips. “I dunno. ’Cause it wouldn’t have made any sense for you to do it so early.” Her loving smile turned warmer. “Because there’s no rush. I’m not going anywhere.”  
A small blush dusted his cheeks as he stared at her as if his body had stopped working. He let out an unsure chuckle and looked down. “Dammit, sweetheart, you really are the best.”  
She gently stroked his head. “’Course. You deserve the best after all.”  
He lifted his head up and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I love you.”


	60. “Full confidence”

Now it was nearing Cathy’s time for the interview. It wasn’t as big a deal as Karma’s, in her mind, but it was still big. So at the moment, yet again, she was freaking out.  
“Cathy, calm down, please. You know freaking out won’t help,” Karma said from the sofa.  
She stopped pacing and looked at him seriously. “What will then?”  
He held up his own cards. “These. You answered all of the questions perfectly. So there’s no reason for you to freak out.”  
“Easy for you to say. You were probably biased as hell when it came down to my answers.”  
He shook his head. “No. I know how they think by now and all of your answers will definitely be enough. So just calm down.”  
She looked at him annoyed. “Are you sure there’s nothing I haven’t missed?”  
“Absolutely. Especially since you kept begging me to ask them again and again.” He chuckled. “Which I gotta admit, was kinda cute.”  
She sighed. “Of course you’d think that.” She let herself fall on the sofa next to him. “You better not end up pulling any strings on my account, okay?”  
He grinned. “’Course not, dear. I have full confidence in you.”  
She leant against the sofa. “Sometimes I wish I could take that confidence of yours and see what it’s like to have it.”  
“Maybe. But you are getting more self confident by the day.”  
“Yeah. But what will that little bit of self confidence do for me in a few days?”  
“Get you the job hopefully. And you know, I’ll be in my own office, believing in you.”  
She squinted at him. “And doing your actual job I hope.”  
He chuckled. “I’ll see.”  
“Karma,” she warned.  
“’Course. I got the job to do it after all,” he said with a grin.  
“Good.”


	61. Calmer with Karma

The day of the interview finally arrived. Cathy was walking beside Karma to the building, holding onto his hand. Once they were near enough to the building, she freed her hand.  
He looked at her confused.  
“I don’t want them to know yet.”  
“You embarrassed of me or something?” he asked with a smile.  
“Sometimes, yeah, but now it’s just that like you said, I want to get the job on my own, without people knowing that we’re in a relationship.”  
“Good.” He kissed her temple. “Good luck, sweetheart. I’m sure you’re gonna win them over like you did with me.”  
She chuckled. “I hope not to that extent.”  
“True. I’d be problematic having people wanting you at work.”  
“True. There’s only one person here that I want and he’s standing in front of me.”  
He looked around. “Where?”  
“I think you have to look up. He’s got a high opinion of himself.”  
His smile turned demonic. “You think you can get away with saying that?”  
“Maybe,” she said teasingly. “But the important thing here is, Karma, that you should get going. I don’t want you being late on my account.”  
“Yeah. And you’ll have to get to them in time.” He started walking closer to the entrance. “Good luck. No matter what they say, call me when you’re done okay. I believe in you with all my heart.”  
She giggled. “Never thought a demon like you actually had a heart, Karma.”  
He just grinned in return and left through the doors.  
She took in a deep breath and exhaled. _You calmed me down enough. Good._ After waiting for a bit she entered the building as well and went to the reception area, where there was another vacant spot, her future workplace hopefully. She introduced herself and said she was there for the interview.  
The receptionist, Emma, took her details and called her boss. He said that he would be there soon.  
Cathy was allowed to sit down for a bit and read her book. Soon enough a man appeared in front of her and introduced himself. He led her to his office where they would be having the interview.  
Then it started. Fortunately he asked her all the questions that she had prepared with Karma. Though because of the nerves, she still tripped over some things. He didn’t seem to mind however and just continued. She told him about her language skills, her general knowledge of PC programs and her people skills.  
At the end he thanked her and said that he would call her and say whether she had gotten the job.  
She thanked him in return and left. Once she was far enough, she took out her phone and selected Karma’s number.  
He picked up immediately and asked, “How’d it go?”  
“Good. He seemed impressed.”  
“Did he say when he’ll let you know?”  
“In a few days time. He’ll call me.”  
“Sounds good.” He leant against his chair, so only the back two legs were holding it up. “Wanna stay around so we can have lunch together later? Always in the cafeteria and feel like doing something else.”  
“Sounds good. I’ve got my book to read,” she said with a broad grin.  
“Great. See you in a few hours then.”


	62. Reveal

Cathy got the job, much to her glee.  
One day at work, Cathy saw Karma coming down the stairs. “Hey, Karma,” she said with a grin. She made a face in annoyance. “Mister Akabane.”  
He looked at her amused. “Still having difficulties talking to me properly, I see,” he said once he was next to her.  
“Well yeah, after years of calling you by your first name, it makes sense.”  
“Though you do a great job when we’re on the phone.”  
They started walking towards the indoors restaurant.  
“Well yeah, there I’ve got more professional surroundings and stuff. And you know, you’re not here, which makes it easier.”  
He looked at her extremely pleased with himself. “Am I that distracting?”  
She rolled her eyes and looked at him lovingly. “Obviously you know the answer, _Mister_ Akabane, so just shut up.”  
He chuckled. “You shouldn’t talk to your superiors like that, Cathy. You could get into a lot of trouble.”  
“Ah well, maybe. But I’m sure my boyfriend can pull the strings and do something about it then.”  
“Sure he could.”  
“She’s got a crush on him,” Iwahara noted from afar.  
“Maybe. But what does that have to do with anything?” Emma asked beside him.  
“You know what he’s like. He could break her heart within seconds. I should go talk to her about it.”  
Before Emma could say anything more, Iwahara was on his way towards Cathy. He noticed her sitting alone, digging into her lunch.  
“Where’s Mister Akabane?” He didn’t bother with formalities.  
“Oh, he’s over there speaking to some of his colleagues.” She indicated her head behind her. “It couldn’t wait apparently.”  
“Ok. I was wondering ... forgive me if you think I’m overstepping, but you have a crush on him, don’t you?”  
“Guess you could say that, yeah.”  
“But he’s no good for you. It could be dangerous.”  
She smiled and shook her head. “Don’t think so. Though I appreciate the concern.”  
“What?”  
Before any more questions could be asked, Karma appeared next to her. “What you two talking about?”  
“Cathy has a crush on you,” Iwahara blurted out. He regretted it not a second later.  
She covered her head in her hands out of annoyance, though one could also think embarrassment.  
“Awww, you have a crush on me?” Karma asked teasingly.  
She side eyed him. “Well you have one on me.”  
“But still.”  
She sighed and put her face against the table. “Why now?” She looked towards him. “Shouldn’t you be eating?”  
He sat down next to her and casually straightened her ponytail. “I had something quick when I was talking to them. What about you?”  
She looked at her food and straightened up. “Yeah, I’ll finish it.”  
Iwahara totally out of the loop, looked at them confused. “What’s going on?”  
Cathy indicated her head towards Karma as she brought some food towards her mouth. “He’s my boyfriend.”  
He blinked surprised. “You said you had a crush on him.”  
“On a fundamental level, yeah, I do. Though yeah, it’d be more accurate to say I’m in love with him.”  
“C’mon, sweetheart, d’you really have to tell him now? It was so fun confusing him like that.”  
She looked at Karma annoyed. “What? No. Karma, he’s our colleague. We can’t do that to him.”  
He raised his eyebrow. “And I was allowed to do that to our boss?”  
She groaned. “Got me there.” She played around with her lunch for a bit until she started eating again. “Still, totally sucks that we got found out like this.”  
“Well, it’s your fault for obviously crushing on me.”  
“And yours for being annoyingly great.” She sighed. “Was this a mistake?”  
Both men at the table sensed the change in direction the conversation was taking. Iwahara quickly excused himself and left.  
“What are you talking about?” Karma asked seriously.  
“Us, working in the same building. I love seeing you as much as I do, Karma, I really do. But relationships in the workplace, especially ones like ours where we pretty much show it to the world, aren’t professional.”  
“Where’d you get that from?”  
“My brain.”  
“Strange, your brain usually isn’t so wrong ’bout something. Workplace romances happen and can always turn into more. We didn’t follow that cliché by being together before we started working here.”  
She still didn’t look at him as she continued eating. “Even if we did, they still know about us now. Isn’t it s’posed to be top secret?”  
He softly started stroking the side of her head. “What’s the worst that could happen?”  
“We get fired.”  
“Most definitely is, but that won’t happen ’cause they have no basis to do so. I’ve never treated you differently in the workplace ’cause you’re my girlfriend, nor helped you in any way to get you your position. It’s all you. The worst we do is make our phone conversations slightly longer.”  
“Yeah. We really should stop that.”  
“That we should,” he said with a smile. “So there’s nothing to worry ’bout, dear.” He kissed her temple. “But if you’d rather work somewhere else or have me stop doing something, just say the word. I’m at your beck and call for eternity.”  
She giggled. “Imagine having that as a job.”  
He grinned. “Who wouldn’t want to serve the great demon queen?”  
She rolled her eyes and looked at him lovingly. “You really are the best, Karma. Though I should say, Mister Akabane.”  
“Thank you ...” a playfulness danced in his eyes before he whispered in her ear, “future Mrs. Akabane.”  
As expected, her face turned tomato red. She, in turn, covered it. “Dammit, at work.”  
“The chance was too great to pass off,” he said smugly.  
“Excuses.” She could hear the people clearing out. “I should get going,” she said in a small voice. She uncovered her face, the blush still as clear as daylight. “But yeah, one day,” she said distractingly.  
She didn’t get the chance to see however that her words had also made him blush slightly.

As Cathy was silently working, Emma called Cathy’s attention. Cathy looked up at her confused.  
“Is it true that Mister Akabane is your boyfriend?”  
She nodded. “Yeah.”  
“What’s it like dating him?”  
She smiled. “Imagine a nightmare and dream crushed together to make a person. That’s him.”  
Emma frowned confused. “A nightmare? But he seems like such a great guy. I understand that there’s no way he’s perfect, but to go as far as to call him a nightmare? Why?”  
“’Cause he can annoy the hell out of me sometimes. But yeah, perfect boyfriend, so no way in hell I’m gonna let him go. I also love him too much to do so.” Her smile turned fond.  
“Since when have you been dating?”  
“Bit after Junior High.”  
Emma’s mouth almost hit the floor. “That long? I’ve never heard of long relationships that were made at such a young age.”  
“Yeah. But I guess like they say, every relationship needs work. And we’re also in luck of having pretty much the same line of thought when it comes down to important things.” She sighed. “He’s so amazing.”  
Emma smiled. “It’s nice that you can talk about him like that after all those years.”  
“Well yeah, I’m not gonna badmouth him behind his back. Though there are a few things about him that could make your skin crawl.”  
“Like what?”  
Before Cathy could talk anymore about her boyfriend, her phone rang, calling the pair back to work.


	63. Bank robbery

It was during her afternoon break and Cathy had decided to go to the bank. Karma had wanted to come along, but since he still had work to finish, he couldn’t. So now here she was, silently waiting in line to get some money out for tonight.  
She was bobbing from the heels to her toes when suddenly three armed men entered the bank. They shouted to everyone to get onto their knees and not move. The people fearfully did as ordered, not even daring to shake out of fear.  
Cathy looked around by only moving her eyes. People of all ages were here. _Terrible._  
The leader of the group went over to the front desk and ordered the man to hand over the money. He went to do as ordered, but had still managed to press the panic button without anyone noticing. Since it was taking so long some people were starting to get uncomfortable. The robbers didn’t seem to care however and just glared at the citizens.  
Cathy in turn gave them an ugly look before looking away. _There must be something I can do._  
Then something even worse happened. The old lady who was sitting opposite her with obvious fear in her eyes couldn’t take sitting on her knees like that any longer. She was clearly trying to, but her body wouldn’t allow it and she slightly lost her balance. One of the robbers noticed it and pointed his gun at her and shot.  
The only sound was a ring through the intense silence. The robber looked surprised and angry at his target. Instead of shooting that disobedient old lady, he had shot a woman supposedly in her twenties. Right under her left shoulder blood was flowing down her arm. She winced in pain and it could be seen that tears where forming in her eyes. He didn’t care. She had just taken away his kill. He grabbed her by the back of her shirt and shoved her to the ground so she was now facing him. He pointed his gun at her face at point-blank range. She was shaking now, undoubtedly a combination of fear and shock. He smirked at her and cocked his gun again.  
The pain coursing through Cathy’s left arm was unbearable. She had always wondered what it would feel like to be shot, but this was so much worse than she had ever imagined. She knew that nothing could have prepared her for the intense stinging pain in her arm. But it couldn’t be helped. The moment she had seen the old lady being targeted, her body had moved to push her out of the way. In return she had gotten shot. Nothing big there. But as time passed, the pain in her arm became worse and worse and unconsciousness seemed to want to take her. She pleadingly looked at the man who was now pointing a gun at her, waiting for him to take her life. “Karma, I’m sorry,” she said, barely louder than a whisper. She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable.  
However, the final shot never came. Time seemed to have stopped. She slowly opened her eyes and saw armed police men storming the building. There were also medics who came directly to her aid. The combination of emotions finally took over causing her to faint.


	64. “My hero”

The old lady, Chisami Masuko, had also been escorted to the hospital to see whether she had sustained any injuries as well – both mental and physical. After that she had been cleared.  
She was now walking back to the exit when she saw a young red-haired man sitting by himself. He was rocking back and forth on his chair. His hands, held against his forehead, were clasped. Tears had clearly been streaming down his eyes for a while. She walked over to him. No matter who he was, this young man clearly needed some support.  
“Excuse me,” she said in a kind voice.  
His body tightened. It was like he was ready to punch someone. He took a shaky breath and opened his eyes, mercury or cold in colour. He looked at her. “I presume you’re the woman she saved,” he said in a horse voice.  
“Are you family of her?”  
“Not yet. I’m her boyfriend.” He took in a deep breath. “She told me off for doing risky crap and then I get a call about this.” He laughed brokenly. “We really are too alike when it comes down to some stuff.”  
“I’m sorry.”  
He looked at her. “It’s not your fault. It’s the bastard who shot her. He’s gonna pay somehow. I’ll make sure of that.” He smiled with obvious bloodlust in his eyes.  
She stood strong. “There will be a hearing. You could go there.”  
“It better not be before she’s discharged.”  
“I don’t think it will be. I presume everyone who was affected will have to be there.” She bowed. “Would you please thank your girlfriend for me? I’ll try to buy her something as a thank you present as well. She is my hero.”  
A smile quirked on his lips. “She most definitely is. Thank you. I will do that. Do you...have to go somewhere?”  
“My husband said he would come and pick me up at the entrance.” She rummaged through her bag and took out a card. “Here’s my phone number if you want to keep in touch.” She bowed again. “Seriously, thank you. I owe her my life.”  
In return he just smiled and nodded. Then she was gone. Not a second later, he started shaking again. His breathing had been on and off since the moment he had heard she’d been shot. The staff here had luckily been able to give him something to calm down, but he could sense that it was wearing off.  
His body was so tired, but his mind was still racing. Every single part of it was plotting some kind of revenge, but luckily the reasonable part knew that he couldn’t do any of it. Because, just like before, the bastard was property of the police. They wouldn’t let him anywhere near him; definitely since he was sure he had a murderous aura around him. And he actually wanted to kill him, send him to the morgue instead of the usual hospital. Because this bastard had almost done it to the woman he loved. He was scared for the mental damage that all this would take on her as well. All in all, one could say that his worst fears were coming to fruition. “Please be alright. I need you to be alright,” he said so only he could hear it.


	65. Together

After presumably hours, Cathy was allowed visitors. She was lying in her hospital bed, hoping that Karma wasn’t too upset. _Who am I kidding? If the roles had been reversed, I would have lost it. So there’s no way he’s calm._ Her thought process was proven correct when the door was opened and her boyfriend appeared. He looked at her with so much concern that it was heartbreaking. He slowly but surely neared her, as if making sure that this was in fact reality.  
She looked at him and swallowed. “Karma,” she said in a soft voice.  
His legs almost buckled at the sound of her voice, but he managed to stay upright and continued walking. She reached out her right hand and indicated that it was alright, that she was alright. His hand went towards it and hovered for a second over it, then he took it.  
She nodded and he came closer. He was standing next to her bed now, unsure of how to proceed. His mind had stopped racing and was now a total blank, with hardly any input or output. The only thing that it was allowing was her – seeing her, feeling her and hearing her. So she indicated the chair next to her bed and he sat down.  
“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about it. I mean, it did go in my arm, but they managed to get all of the fragments out. Apparently it took really long, which is no surprise. Surgeons truly are amazing. Of course there’ll be a scar, but I don’t mind.” She smiled slightly. “’Cause you know, scars are cool and all. Though one on you would totally suck. I-I don’t know why I even think that, it’s just something I’ve been strangely curious about. But now I know that that was the wrong thing to be curious about.”  
“You’re rambling again,” he said quietly. “You only do that when you’re upset or nervous. And it’s normal. Yeah, you having a scar could be considered cool. But what had to happen to you before you got this scar is probably one of the worst things in the world. And I wasn’t even there. Even if I had been, I don’t know what I could have done. You don’t deserve all the pain you’ve been getting, physical or physiological. I wish I could take it away, take it for myself, but you...” for a second a small irritated smile formed on his lips, “...you wouldn’t allow it. Because you are so strong and are willing to carry this burden by yourself. With me there to hopefully make you feel better along the way.”  
She nodded. “Of course. I guess I am nervous. I...I was almost killed today, thinking that I would leave you behind while we’ve pretty much just started our lives.” She looked into his eyes. “But don’t feel guilty, Karma. Like you said, there’s nothing you could have done to prevent this, so there’s no point in thinking anymore about it. We will figure this out, like everything else.” She reached up and stroked his cheek. “So please just show me that smile that I love so much.”  
Instead of doing that, he touched his forehead against hers. “I know we will. My queen isn’t so weak as to let this bring her down.”  
“Or you could do that.” Her voice became slightly higher.  
He lifted up his head and smirked at her. “As always, so easily embarrassed.”  
She covered her mouth and giggled. “And as always, such an idiot.”  
“It’s what I do, sweetheart,” he said in his Southern accent. He softly played with her hair. “’Cause seeing you like this is one of the many things I love about you.”  
This time she could almost see the puddle she wanted to melt into. She looked at him lovingly. “There’s no doubt in my mind that you are the best thing that’s happened to me. So I won’t die. Not until we’re old and both have enough of life. Together, I hope. Because I don’t want you to eventually die alone. And I most certainly do not want you to die before me since you’re younger than me.”  
A small blush had formed on his cheeks. “By one month.”  
She stuck out her tongue at him. “Still older.”  
He chuckled. “You’re getting better at this, dear. The crown’s still divided between the two of us.” He looked towards the door. “I’ll check whether there’s a doctor who can help us further.”  
“Good idea.”


	66. Road to recovery

For the time that came afterwards, Cathy’s left arm had become pretty much useless. She had gone to the hearing along with Karma and retold the events at court. The would-be-murderer had received six years jail time as punishment – not enough in Karma’s opinion. Though then again, maybe when the culprit got out, Karma could pay him back in his special Karma way.  
But the thing was, even though the man was nicely locked away, her mind wouldn’t forget. Wouldn’t forget the fact that she had almost died.  
Every night following the incident was a living hell, for both. No matter what time, Cathy would wake up, teary eyed and shaking, scarred for her life. Karma always woke up straight away; he had become a reasonably light sleeper. And every time he would hug her, try to comfort her, tell her that she was safe now, that no one would hurt her.  
Though he didn’t know whether those words were true, he hoped they were.  
Then the time came for the bandages to be removed. A clear scar could be seen where the bullet had entered the skin.  
Cathy smiled faintly at it. “It actually looks pretty cool.”  
“Yeah,” he said unsurely. “How does it feel?”  
She tried moving her arm and winced. “Stiff as hell.”  
“Good thing there’s such a thing as physiotherapy.”  
“Yeah,” she said distractedly.  
“What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing.”  
“Cathy.”  
She shook her head. “It’s not important.”  
“Doubt there’s such a thing.” He held onto her hands. “You can tell me.”  
Her eyes moved to the doctor who was writing down everything that had be for the physiotherapy.  
Karma nodded. “Later then.”  
After the doctor gave them everything, they said their thanks and goodbyes and left.  
“So, what’s wrong?” Karma asked concerned.  
“The culprit’s locked up and my arm’s on the mend, so I should be feeling happy. But I’m not. Why not?”  
He looked down sadly and pulled her closer. “I guess a few good things in the mess that is your life won’t make your life miraculously better.”  
“I guess. But at least you’re with me. Which is good.”  
“Till the very end.”  
“Yeah. Though statistically, women outlive men.”  
“Never thought you’d bring statistics into anything,” he said impressed. “But statistics aren’t the rule and even if they were, rules are meant to be broken.”  
She let out a small laugh. “Yeah. And you’re a world class rule breaker, so it only makes sense that you’d do that.”  
He grinned and ruffled her hair. “’Course I would. ’Cause I’d do anything for you, sweetheart.”  
“I seriously love you, Karma,” she said softly.


	67. Back to normal?

The physiotherapy went well for Cathy.  
A meal out really was something the couple loved. For Cathy the main reason was the greatness of tasting nice, new food since they always went to different restaurants. For Karma on the other hand it was just the simple fact that he got to spend time with his girlfriend while she enjoyed herself and he got to see her smile.  
That was, along with trying to get things back to normal. It was the first dinner out after all since … since Cathy had been shot. Karma had suggested it to try and get her into the normal swing of things. This was because she hadn’t really left the apartment much besides going to physiotherapy. Mainly she had also been too tired – due to the almost constant nightmares.  
But at least now, eating the food and talking to him like it hadn’t all happened, she seemed genuinely happy.  
Near the end of the meal, he excused himself and went to the toilet.  
Not a minute later Cathy was approached by a woman of about the same age as herself. She looked up at her with a kind smile, though the message of wanting to be left alone was clear in her eyes.  
“How can I help you?” she asked in her professional voice.  
She looked at Cathy’s shoulder, where a clear scar was. “How did you get that?”  
She inhaled sharply and covered her scar with her hand. “What?” Fear had entered her eyes.  
“Did he do it? If so, I can help you.”  
It was starting to become difficult for her to breathe. She shook her head. “No. I don’t … It wasn’t him. But I don’t remember. I think it was … a bank? That’s what he said. He would never...”  
The woman nodded compassionately. “I see. You don’t remember. That makes sense.” She put her hand on Cathy’s other shoulder, making her flinch. “It’s alright. You’re safe now. I’ll take care of you.”  
The hand on her shoulder wasn’t putting her at ease, not one bit. Her breathing became even more ragged. She didn’t even know what to say. She shook her head. “No. Please, just go. He’s not bad. He didn’t do it.” Tears started forming in her eyes. “Why won’t you believe me?”  
“Because-”  
The woman was cut off by a man suddenly appearing between herself and the woman she had been talking two. “Because?” He had a treacherous aura around him while he was looking at her. In many ways it looked like his attention was mainly on the woman he was looking at, beside that he was holding his girlfriend’s hand in comfort.  
The woman shrank slightly at the sight of this man, but she still held firm. “Good. You’re here. Sure the police would like to hear what you have to say for yourself.”  
Karma cocked his head, an extremely dangerous look in his eyes. “Yeah. Good idea. Call ’em. Sure they’d love to hear why you decided to scare my girlfriend.”  
She pointed at him. “You I just know you did it, Akabane. I know you’re violent. There’s nothing that you wouldn’t do.”  
“Aah, so you know me.” He smiled. “Yet strange that you don’t know how much I love her. Must’ve seen us together at least once.”  
The woman blinked and caught her breath for a second. “No way. It can’t be. That girl you always hung out with.” Her eyes travelled to the woman sitting behind Karma. Her head was now buried in his back while her other hand was clasping onto his arm. “How? What the hell happened? What am I doing?” She started backing away. “I’m sorry. Stuff happened and I keep saying these horrible things. I don’t know why. Please. Don’t hurt me.”  
“How ’bout this: I’ll start counting down from 10. If you’re not far enough by the time I’m gone, you’ll regret having ever spoken to her.”  
The woman nodded and was gone the moment he started counting.  
Karma didn’t bother finishing and turned around. He knelt down and looked at her concerned. Her face had paled slightly and she was still holding onto his arm for dear life. He pulled into a hug with his free hand, her head against his shoulder. He didn’t say anything as he rubbed her back in comfort. Eventually her grip on his arm loosened and came entirely loose. Her breathing became more even. He looked at her and saw that she had fallen asleep.  
He called over a waiter and asked for the bill. The waiter complied, but not before apologising for having allowed such a display. Though part of him was annoyed by the fact, Karma said that it wasn’t the waiter’s fault and that he shouldn’t blame himself.  
Once everything was paid for, Karma picked up Cathy. The moment they were outside, he took in a shaky breath, placed his forehead against hers and said in a small, broken voice, “I’m sorry.”


	68. The big fight

Karma was working peacefully in his office when a call got connected to him; apparently it was some guy who disagreed with something that he had done. He smiled intrigued and picked up the phone. The caller was clearly angry about it. However, he remained his calm self and listened. This in turn angered the caller even more and he eventually said, “You know what, forget it. Let’s handle this like men.”  
“What do you mean?” Of course he knew what the caller meant, but he wouldn’t be the one to start this fight. He had been pressured into it.  
“You and me, one on one, barehanded.”  
“Are you sure you want this? I would happily further discuss the issue you have with me financing projects you don’t approve off.”  
The man laughed. “You know what you sound like, a chicken. I bet you’re scared.”  
He moved his chair from side to side. “No. I just want to be sure that you want to fight. I don’t exactly want to be blamed for the consequences.”  
The caller started making chicken noises.  
Karma smiled. “Ok. I’ll accept your challenge. Where and when?”  
The man gave him the details and hung up.

As expected, when he told Cathy about the coming fight, extreme worry appeared on her face.  
“Are you seriously going to fight, Karma? And in such a public space.”  
“It’ll be fine and over in no time.”  
“Actually over? You’re not gonna give him one of your treatments or drag it out?”  
“Maybe drag it out for a bit,” he mused.  
She sighed. “Karma, this is serious. Being in a fistfight like this could seriously damage your career.”  
“Do you then suggest I back out?”  
“Well ... kinda yeah.”  
He took out his phone and showed her a blog post he had found. “It’s too late for that.”  
Her eyes skimmed over the post. “That bastard, thinking he can talk about you like that.”  
“Yeah, well. It’s not such a big deal.”  
“Not such a big deal?” she asked in exasperation. She held up the phone to his face. “Have you seen how many views this post has already gotten? If all these people turn up, there will undoubtedly be countless videos of your fight.”  
“We can ask them not to do so.”  
She laughed humourlessly. “You think they’d actually do that? I’m pretty sure the dude who challenged you would happily have it videoed.”  
He looked at the sky in thought. “You want me to back out?”  
“You seriously asking me after you’ve shown me that?” She groaned. “No. I just want you to be careful and not go overboard. Once he’s down, you’ll stop. Okay?”  
“Sure thing,” he said cheerfully.  
“And I’ll be there.”  
“Silently or loudly cheering me on?” he asked with a smile.  
“Silently hoping you don’t do anything stupid.”  
He chuckled. “Yeah.” He started stroking her head. “But just having you there is enough.”  
She checked her phone for the time. “We still have a bit of time before your ‘big fight’. Wanna grab something?”  
“A drink maybe. Doubt eating would be good.”  
She chuckled. “Though then again, it’d be quiet a scene if you ended up barfing on him.”  
He laughed. “Yeah. A true way to defeat someone.” He kissed her forehead. “I really love how your brain works.”  
She had nothing to say in return so just looked away shyly and said, “Thanks.”  
“Wait, have I won?”  
“No.” She looked at him. There was a slight blush on her cheeks, but not a full blown one.  
“Are you sure?” he said teasingly. He poked her cheek. “’Cause that seems like a blush to me, sweetheart.”  
“Small one. So no.”  
“Maybe if I poke it more it will grow.” He started poking her cheek. However his hand was soon enough swatted away.  
“Don’t be stupid. Poking can’t make things grow.”  
“Ah yeah. Otherwise you’d be bigger than this.”  
“Not what I’m talking about, but yeah. That’s true.”  
They found a café which didn’t seem too full and decided to get something to drink there. They decided to sit at the bar. Cathy took a hot chocolate, while Karma took a soda.  
She was distractingly playing with her spoon when she noticed something fishy going on in one of the booths. “Karma,” she said seriously.  
He inconspicuously looked over to where she was looking. He didn’t need any more words to tell him what to do. He got from the stool and walked over to a pair, a man and woman.  
“Hey,” Karma said.  
The man was about to tell him to get lost when his arm was suddenly in the air, being crushed by this red-head. He groaned in pain.  
“Sorry, I just don’t think that you should treat a lady like that.”  
Cathy had come to his side and was now comforting the woman. “Let’s go and call the police, okay?”  
The woman nodded and let herself be led away by Cathy. She unsurely looked back.  
“Now, should I break your arm or not? It really would be a public service.”  
The man screamed in pain as Karma twisted it slightly.  
As Cathy was comforting the woman and taking out her phone, she said, “Don’t. I doubt the police would approve of that and he might be in too much pain to testify to his horrible deeds.”  
“Oh yeah.” He went over to the man. “But you will, won’t you?”  
“Yes. I promise. Just please stop hurting me.” Tears had started forming in his eyes. Not only because of the pain, but because of the look on the other man’s face. He was clearly enjoying this and far too much for his own comfort.  
Finally the police arrived and took the man into custody. He happily went along with them and told them everything they needed to know, too scared of this red-head to say anything else. The woman was also taken along, so she could testify from her side.  
Karma was smiling satisfied as he neared his girlfriend. “We did good, didn’t we?”  
Cathy smiled at him. “Yes, we did. Let’s go. We can’t miss your actual fight.”  
“Wait,” the bartender said.  
“Sorry, we have somewhere to go to.”  
“I just wanted to thank you.” He bowed. “That man has been a nuisance for a long time, but we were always too scared of him. Please accept this as a thank you.” He handed over a coupon for free drinks.  
“Thank you,” Karma said.  
“We can’t accept this,” Cathy said to him.  
“Why?”  
“It’s like we did it for the coupon then, not to help her.”  
He smiled at her. “You’re right. Thank you but like she said, we only did it to help.” He handed the coupon back. “We really should be going now. See ya.”  
As they were walking to the square, Cathy said, “You know ... as wrong as it would have been, it would have been nice if you had broken his arm.”  
“Maybe. But you were right, the police needed him whole. And I guess that would’ve gotten me in trouble.”  
“It would’ve gotten you into a lot of trouble, Karma. But it’s just so disgusting to think of someone like him going there uninjured.”  
“So you wouldn’t have minded me getting into trouble if I’d hurt him?” he asked amused.  
She sighed and held up her hands in defeat. “I dunno. It’s not fair, ’cause it’s just like in junior high when you beat up that bully.”  
“You comparing this to then?”  
“I mean, in both cases you’re technically in the right and yet you’d got punished and would’ve gotten punished.”  
“Oh, sweetheart, I love you.”  
She smiled slightly in return.  
They made it to the meeting place and saw the person who had challenged Karma straight away. He was obviously muscular, though shorter than him. Karma cocked his head intrigued. “This’ll be interesting.”  
“Yeah. But like I said, don’t go overboard and _try_ to finish it as soon as possible.”  
“Yeah, yeah. I heard you the first time you said it.” He removed his jacket and loosened his tie slightly.  
“We are so going to hell,” Cathy said as she watched him near his opponent. She was honestly curious as to how this would turn out. It had been ages ago since she had seen him in a proper fistfight, since his latest ones had only been in Class 3-E’s presence.  
Both opponents were now facing off. Karma suggested that it’d be more interesting if no one videoed it, so that only the witnesses would know about the outcome. Fortunately, the challenger agreed to it. Then he charged and started punching. Karma blocked them with no problem, reading his moves in the process. He wouldn’t break any bones, that would be bad, just incapacitate him.  
_He’s also been in fights before,_ he realised. However, it didn’t make much of a difference to him as he found the best way to take out his opponent. The moment his opponent punched again, Karma blocked with one arm, while his fist made contact with his stomach. Then he went for the face and the man became one with the pavement.  
The man weakly looked up at him. Karma was still unscathed and was now smiling at him. And that look was nothing but unnerving. He had made a mistake, a big one at that. “I concede the fight,” he said in a small voice.  
Karma cocked his head. “You do? Are you sure? We were just getting started.”  
“Yeah. I’m sorry. I made a mistake.”  
“Good that you know that.” He crouched down so he could look better at the man’s face. “So don’t go picking fights that you can’t win.”  
The man nodded and scrambled back to his friends. The moment he was near them one of them stated that Karma was a crazy bureaucrat and that maybe they could drag his name through the mud.  
“I would advise against that,” said a sweet female voice from behind them. “Politics is a difficult game, yeah, but he’s the best we’ve got at the moment when it comes to economics. It’s a true shame that you don’t appreciate everything he’s been doing and now want to drag his name through the mud. ’Cause that will be a very dangerous move. We know what you look like. Not saying that we’ll hurt you or anything, there are other ways to take a person down.” She smiled. “More fun ways.” She said quietly, “So don’t you dare write anything bad about him if you value your health.”  
The men nodded and ran.  
Karma had started playing with Cathy’s ponytail the moment they had left. “I missed that,” he said with admiration.  
“Well yeah, it’s not like I’m given much of a chance to do so.” She grinned at him. “But you did amazing, Karma. It’s really fun seeing you fight.”  
“Thank you, sweetheart.” He leant down and kissed her on the cheek. “Maybe I should piss off more people then.”  
She huffed a laugh. “No, Karma, you shouldn’t. That’d be very bad. Definitely for your job.”  
He chuckled slightly as he held his nose against hers. “Yeah. It’d be really bad. Good thing you’re here to keep me in line.”  
“Very good indeed,” she said before she moved her face for another kiss.


	69. Why a knife?

After a long day at work years later Cathy was walking back annoyed. “And people say that receptionists don’t have to work late. Of course _all_ that work had to be done today and couldn’t wait any longer. Sometimes I even wonder whether the boss even realises how much we do for him. And because Emma has kids she got to go home earlier.” She sighed. “Makes total sense of course. And of course that idiot went home straight away. Which is selfish if you ask me.” She paused. “No. He deserves to be selfish sometimes. It still feels like I ask so much of him. I do the housework and whatever I can to help in the apartment. So it’s fine. He deserves to rest.”  
She opened her front door and saw that the apartment was unlit. She switched on the light, confused. No one was around. “Karma?” she asked cautiously. Something could’ve happened to him or he was messing with her, either one was possible. She looked around and noticed something on the floor. A piece of paper. She picked it up and opened it up. On it was one simple word: “Continue”. So she walked onwards, becoming even more suspicious and slightly annoyed by the moment. She just wanted to rest for crying out loud, not be sent on some strange ass mission by her boyfriend. She found another note and opened it up, again one word: “I”. She presumed this was a kind of find all the words to find the sentence. She sighed. “I seriously fell for an idiot.”  
So she continued on her adventure. The more she found, the more her heart started beating. She had managed to find the first sentence just fine: “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” That wasn’t something he usually said, let alone would write. So what in the world was he doing? And there were more. Just a few more leading to the bedroom. She found the next one. “Will.” She could already feel tears in her eyes. “If this is a joke, I’m breaking up with you,” she said under her breath. The next one: “You.” She opened the door.  
There he was on one knee, holding not a ring but a knife. He was grinning at her. “If you haven’t figured it out yet, the questions simple, sweetheart. Will you marry me?” Every word he spoke in his Southern accent.  
She put her hand against her mouth and shook slightly; tears were definitely streaming down her face. She nodded her head vigorously, unable to speak. She calmed herself enough to ask, “Why knife?”  
He gave it to her. “Thought you’d like it. There’s apparently a thing called a proposal knife.” He neared her and gave it to her. “Now you can show your deadliness in another way.”  
She gave him the other classic I-can’t-believe-I-fell-for-you look. “Oh gods, you really are my idiot.” Her voice had unsurprisingly gotten higher. She took the knife and looked at it. It had an emerald green hilt and the sheath was black with an emerald green dragon swirling towards the hilt. The dragon’s mouth was open like it was going to bite onto an egg. She unsheathed it saw that the blade had swirls going onto the top. “No one’s going to believe that this actually happened.”  
“Their loss.” He stroked her head and put his hand in his pocket. Then he took out a small box. “But if they don’t, you can just as well show them this.”  
She quickly sheathed the knife again and looked surprised from him to the now-open box with a ring in it. “How much did all of that cost?”  
He smirked at her. “Secret.”  
“Gods, I hate you.” She shook her head as a giggle escaped her lips.  
“And ’cause you didn’t give me a proper worded answer, I’ll ask you again.” He carefully took the knife out of her hands. Then properly held the box. “Will you marry me, Cathy?”  
“Yes,” she said between laughing and crying. She put the ring and her finger. The moment that happened she pulled him down by his necktie and kissed him. “You could have really gone with a less convoluted way, Karma.”  
He smiled at her mischievously. “But where’d the fun in that be?”  
“Different ideas of fun apparently. Did you make anything? I’m starving.”  
“Yeah. Couldn’t not prepare something for my future wife, could I?”  
Of course Karma got his expected result when her face became bright red. “Shut up.”  
“Whatever you say, sweetheart.” He kissed her on the cheek and started walking towards the kitchen. “Made your favourite as well.”  
She followed him. “Gods, now you’re going to turn into a perfect husband as well.”  
Fortunately for him, she couldn’t see the blush forming on his cheeks. “Yeah. I’m sure there’s an expression saying that perfection never wanes.”  
She laughed and wiped the last of her tears away. “I very much doubt it.”  
“Wanna bet? Or maybe I should turn it into one.”  
She rubbed her face. “Karma, under no other circumstances would that expression ever be used. So just keep it between the two of us, okay?”  
“Sure thing, sweetheart,” he said cheerfully.  
As he was getting dinner ready, she looked at him fondly. _Gods, I really love this idiot._


	70. Future Mrs. Akabane

The next day Cathy called Anjerika to tell her the news. As expected her best friend started freaking out. Cathy ended up holding the phone away from her ear so she wouldn’t go deaf from all of the shouting.  
“What does the ring look like?” Anjerika asked once she had calmed down enough.  
“It’s really pretty. It’s dark blue and has a silver casing.”  
“I want to see it.”  
“I’ll come to you later.”  
“No. Now. I’m coming to your apartment.”  
“What? But Anjerika, we’re not even dressed yet and it’s so early in the morning.”  
She chuckled. “Doesn’t matter to me. I’ve seen plenty of guys in all kinds of clothes, so that doesn’t matter and I’m sure there’s nothing wrong with the way you look.”  
“I guess not,” she said in a small voice. “Just be careful, okay?”  
“Of course. See you later, Cathy.”  
“Yeah, lates Anjerika.” She hung up and sighed.  
“That bad, huh?” Karma asked from the couch.  
“She’s coming over now and we look like this.” She looked at her fiancé and frowned. “How’s your hair already look alright? Do you have some kind of magical hair product or something?”  
“Maybe,” he said with a grin.  
She shook her head with a smile. “I’m gonna get changed and will hopefully be ready before she gets here. If I’m not, keep her entertained or something.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
As she was walking towards her room, she said quietly, “Or I might sleep.”  
He looked at her concerned. “Was yesterday too emotionally draining? Or the conversation you had with her?”  
She shook her head. “No. I dunno. I just think that today’s not really my day for some reason. And I don’t understand why. I’m over the moon with you proposing to me. I guess I just wish ... that I could tell them as well.”  
He was hugging her before anything more could happen. His right hand was softly holding her head against his chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t think of that,” he said softly.  
“It’s not your fault, Karma. You’ve got so many things to think about anyway.” Tears were starting to form in her eyes.  
“You’re still my top priority, Cathy.” His hug tightened slightly. “Do you want to visit them before the day?”  
“I think. So much has happened. I should...tell them about it all.”  
The couple continued embracing each other till the bell rang.  
“She’s here,” Cathy said in a small voice.  
“Want me to send her away?”  
She shook her head. “It’s fine. Just give us some time alone.” She got out of the embrace. “I should go get the dagger as well.”  
“See how she reacts to that.”  
“She’ll probably come to the right conclusion that we’re crazy. But she already knew that.” She fetched the dagger from her room and opened the door to find her friend smiling broadly at her.  
“Congratulations,” Anjerika said, handing over a bouquet of roses.  
“Um...thanks,” Cathy said, awkwardly accepting them. She knew about getting gifts just before the wedding, but not about getting them after the proposal. She guessed Anjerika’s shipping mind had wanted to get something.  
“You okay?” Anjerika asked worried, seeing that Cathy’s eyes had a sad look to them.  
“Fine,” she lied as she led her friend further into the apartment.  
“I can see you’re not. What happened? You didn’t have a fight, did you?”  
She looked at her shocked. “What? No. It’s not that. It’s um...more personal. Not really. I dunno. It’s difficult to talk about it. But you’re my best friend and you’re here, so I should do it, right?” She swallowed. “...wish they were here. ...tell them. Think. Difficult. Why is this so difficult after all these years?”  
Anjerika realised what her friend was talking about and hugged her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. It’s only obvious that you’d want them here. Let’s just see what he gave you and get it over with. Okay?”  
“Yeah.” She sat down on the sofa and revealed her dagger.  
Anjerika laughed. “Oh, you two really are made for each other, eh? There aren’t that many people that would think of buying a dagger to propose with, let alone people who would accept it.”  
She giggled. “Yeah. You could say that. Though he also gave me a ring.” She showed the ring and Anjerika’s mouth fell open. Not because of how elaborate the design was or anything, but because of how simple yet beautiful it was. “You know, I would never consider myself to be jealous of your relationship with him, but I’m almost starting to be.”  
“Maybe if you stopped going from guy to guy and just found someone to settle down with.”  
She scoffed. “Yeah, maybe.”  
“Why aren’t you? It’s been three years.”  
“I guess because I’m scared to love again. Because I really did love him, Cathy. With all my heart. And I understand. It’s always possible to fall out of love, definitely if there’s someone better suited for you than the person you’re dating at the moment. And I’m so grateful he told me then and there instead of dragging it out or cheating on me. I guess it’s just difficult to believe I’ll ever find someone like him.”  
“There’s also a chance you’ll find someone better. I’m not telling you off or something like that, I’m just saying, the world is a big place and I’m sure with how much you go out when you have time you’ll find him.”  
Anjerika hugged her. “You’re such a mum.”  
She chuckled. “I guess. I mean, I am marrying a man child, so it comes with a kind of territory.”  
“But children...?”  
“Yes,” she squeaked. “I mean, maybe. We’re still pretty busy and even though we’ve got enough money to get married now, we don’t really have enough to start a proper family yet. And we might also have to move out since this is a one bedroom apartment. So you know...”  
Anjerika laughed. “No matter what, you really are cute when it comes down to your relationship with him. Just don’t wait too long, okay? I’m sure there’re always be babies to adopt, but the perfect one might just slip by.”  
“I doubt it. As long as we have a child who we can love and loves us in return, we’ll be fine.”  
“It really is difficult to believe that people actually call you a demoness.”  
“I still have those moments, believe me. I guess they just lessen over time.”  
Anjerika got up. “I should get going now. It was nice talking to you. I’ll come back and some other point for the dresses.”  
“That’s gonna be interesting. Goodbye, Anjerika. Thank you.”  
“Bye. And seriously, congratulations, you may be tired of hearing this, but the two of you are made for each other.”  
She smiled shyly. “No. It’s fine. I love hearing that I’m pretty much made for the great Karma Akabane.”  
“That you are, future Mrs. Akabane.”  
She covered her face to hide the blush. “Dammit.”


	71. Party plans

After Anjerika’s visit, Karma decided to also inform Nagisa of the engagement.  
Nagisa was extremely pleased by the news and it could be heard in his voice when he said, “Congratulations.”  
“Thank you,” Karma said with a broad smile.  
“How is she?”  
His smile became smaller. “Good.” He closed his eyes. “She’s happy with it all.” He chuckled. “Seeing her like that was the best thing in the world.” He looked towards the bedroom, where she was now sleeping.  
“Would you like to have a bachelor party?” Nagisa asked to break to silence.  
“Huh? Really? Dunno. Isn’t that thing mainly for men to ‘celebrate their last night as a free man’? I’ve been chained to her in the best way possible since Junior High, so don’t really see the point.”  
Nagisa sighed. “That’s not what I meant. You can just see it as hanging out with friends.”  
“Guess I could. First see whether she wants to have her own party as well.”  
He didn’t know why, but Karma’s statement about being chained kind of weirded Nagisa out. “Karma,” he said unsurely. “What do you mean with that you’ve been chained to her for so long?”  
His smile quirked. His eyes moved back to the bedroom and he chuckled slightly. “Nothing big. She’s just my queen in all ways possible, that’s all there really is to it.”  
“Ok, then,” Nagisa said, none the wiser. “Is it alright if I handle things if you wanna do something?”  
“Yeah. Sure. I’ll text you.”  
“Sounds good. Goodbye, Karma.”  
“Bye, Nagisa.”  
The moment Karma hung up; he went straight to the bedroom and lay on the bed, careful not to make any sound. Then he nuzzled his head in her shoulder.  
Soon enough Cathy woke up groggily and gently stroked his head. “You alright?” she asked in a tired voice.  
“I really appreciate you,” he said in a small voice.  
She turned around and kissed him on the forehead. “Hmmm. As do I, Karma. So much.” She caressed his face. “But why say that all of a sudden? Did something happen?”  
He shook his head. “Don’t think I say it enough. I love you.” He chuckled. “That’s normal, easy to say. But that I appreciate you, everything you’ve done for me, don’t think I say that enough, Cathy. ’Cause I really do.”  
She pulled him into a hug, partially to hide the tears that had formed in her eyes. “Dammit, Karma. You really are something else. I-I just…” She tried to look for a counterargument to make her seem not as great as he was claiming she was, but failed.  
Karma looked at her with an expecting grin. “Yes, sweetheart?”  
She shook her head and kissed him. “I love you so much, you idiot, so of course I’d give you the world,” she said with a loving smile.  
He placed his forehead against hers. “That’s good. ’Cause you’re my world.”  
She giggled. “That’s probably the cheesiest thing you’ve ever said.”  
“You think so?” he asked in fake thought. “Can’t be, right?”  
“I dunno, Karma. You tell me,” she said in a soft voice. “I’d say you’re the leading expert on this.”  
He let out a soft chuckle. “Think you might be right, dear.” He grinned. “But we’ve got a whole future to look forward to.”  
She laughed and hid her head against his chest. “Don’t make me regret saying yes, you idiot.”  
He gently started stroking her hair. “What makes you say that?” He said in his Southern accent, “Don’t you wanna marry me, sweetheart?”  
She looked up at him with a squint, still smiling broadly. “’Course I do.” She showed him her ring. “Otherwise I wouldn’t be wearing this. But you know, there are some moments, every so often, where I just wonder what the hell happened when my heart fell for you.” She gently stroked his cheek. “Though I presume it has to do with seeing the true beauty that is you, along with all your annoying sides. One comes with the other. And that’s amazing.”  
He didn’t know what he could possibly say in return so he just stared at her with a blank face, a small blush on his cheeks. After composing himself, he said, “Nagisa suggested I have some kinda bachelor party. What’d you think?”  
“So just you him and maybe a few others?”  
“Yeah. Pretty much.”  
“Doing what?”  
“Dunno yet. Up to him to decide.”  
She sighed. “As long as you don’t doing anything to get yourself into trouble, do what you want.”  
“Sounds very suspicious.” He touched his nose against hers. “Got a problem with it, Cathy?”  
She kept eye contact. “No. I just know bachelor parties can be dangerous, so I want you to be careful no matter what, Karma. Got it?”  
“’Course, ma’am. You can also have your own one if you want.”  
She smiled tiredly. “Have a feeling Anjerika would love that. Yeah, sure. I’ll ask her about it.”  
He brought her closer into a hug. “Know you said there was no rush, but I’m really glad I get to marry you, sweetheart.”  
She could feel the tears stinging in her eyes. “As am I.”  
Later that day, Cathy brought up the idea with Anjerika, who already had a plan in the making. Cathy sighed, but allowed it. It would be fun she knew. So now it was time to truly start preparing for the wedding before either her or her fiancé could go to any kind of party.


	72. All of Me

The next weekend couldn’t arrive any sooner for Anjerika. She got ready much faster than usual and wasted no time in getting to her best friend’s apartment. She rang the doorbell while excitedly moving slightly.  
Instead of her best friend answering the door however, it was the man of the apartment. He wasn’t entirely ready for the day yet, but still somehow managed to look better than a decent amount of men she had been with. “Take me,” she said under her breath.  
Karma decided to ignore the comment and said with a smile, “Good morning, Anjerika.”  
“Morning,” she said, regretting her earlier words already. “Is she up yet?”  
He smiled playfully. “I’ll get her for you.” He disappeared back into the apartment. Seconds later an irritated shout could be heard from the bedroom. Anjerika peeked inside and noticed that Cathy was now being carried by Karma over his shoulder. She was protesting by hitting his back with her fists, to no avail. Then she was put down at the front door. She looked at him annoyed.  
“Never do that again.”  
“You did imply that was the only way you’d get out of bed and we have a guest.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Just go make breakfast already.”  
“Will do,” he said cheerfully.  
Cathy turned her attention to her guest. “Anjerika, why are you here this early?”  
Instead of answering, Anjerika asked her own question. “How do you do it?”  
“What?”  
“How do you manage to live with him like that?”  
“He’s not always that annoying. Mainly when he has to wake me up.” She started rubbing her face. “That idiot always manages to find new ways. Most of the time he’s great.” She beckoned Anjerika to follow her into the apartment. “You know, the perfect boyfriend I keep telling him he is. It’s just ...” she groaned, “...you know, he’s Karma.”  
Anjerika laughed. “That’s not what I was asking you about, but that’s a great explanation. I was talking about the fact that he already looks like a god first thing in the morning.”  
“I know. It’s almost infuriating.” She continued in a small, soft voice, “What he said before is true, his perfection never wanes. Even when he looks like crap, he still somehow has this weird-ass perfect aura around him.”  
“You know, if you weren’t ace and we were both into girls, I would take you right now.”  
“Anjerika!”  
“Everything alright?” Karma popped his head out of the kitchen.  
“Fine.”  
He smirked at the sight of her reddened cheeks. “Sure.”  
She fell face first on the sofa. “Dammit, free me from this hell.”  
He looked towards Anjerika for clarification about his fiancée’s predicament.  
Because she felt like being slightly demonic in the apartment of the demons, she went over to Karma and told him what had been said to her moments earlier and how she had replied.  
He chuckled, a small blush forming on his cheeks, and went over to her. “It’s nice that you think that, sweetheart. Though I think the same. Kinda why I wanna use that song at our wedding.”  
She removed her head from the sofa and looked at him confused, still red in the cheeks. “What song?”  
“Secret.” He stuck out his tongue.  
“Karma, tell me what song.” She didn’t know why she wanted to know it so much now, but she did. She got from the sofa and looked at him determined.  
That look. That look he knew was his weakness. So instead of answering her, he just went back towards the kitchen.  
His actions indicated that she was on the right track to getting the answer. She followed him. “C’mon Karma, please. It’s just the title of a song. Is it maybe embarrassing or something? Don’t you want Anjerika to know? I’ll send her away for a bit if that’s it,” she said in her sweetest voice possible.  
He chuckled nervously and shook his head. “You really are a worthy adversary.” He turned around and rubbed her head. “It’s ‘All of Me’ by John Legend.” He leant down and kissed her. “Because I love all of you.”  
She gaped at him, the message slowly seeping in. “What?” she said in a small voice. Not a second later her face was as red as a tomato. “No. No. No fair. You can’t win like this this early in the morning,” she groaned. “Dammit.”  
He chuckled. “It’s your own fault, sweetheart.”  
“Yeah. Got that. That’s one of the things that makes it unfair.”  
As great as seeing this unseen side of the relationship was for Anjerika, she was still confused about one thing. “Uh, guys, as cute as you two are being at the moment, what did Karma just win?”  
“Her heart,” he said without missing a beat.  
Cathy started setting the table. “That was years ago, no way she’s asking about that.” She looked towards her friend. “We’ve got this small competition going on. It’s pretty much, who can make the other one blush the hardest.”  
“Really?”  
“Yeah and I’m winning,” Karma said with a grin, switching off the heat and taking the food off the stove.  
“Only by a bit.” She pointed the chopsticks at him and grinned. “’Cause I’m gonna catch up with you, Karma. Just you wait and see.”  
His smile turned gentler. He cleared her forehead, held the back of her head and kissed her forehead. “I know you will.”  
As enjoyable as this was to her, Anjerika honestly felt like she was seeing something she shouldn’t. “Should I go or something?”  
Karma looked at her with a smile. “I made extra for you as well, so don’t see why.”  
“’Cause, you know, you guys are kinda being really ...”  
“Really what?”  
“I dunno,” she said unsurely. “It’s just kinda like something that I shouldn’t be seeing.”  
This caused him to chuckle and Cathy look at her friend confused.  
“I’m sorry. It’s just something you can’t switch off with him.”  
“Oh yeah, blame me.”  
They sat down and started serving themselves.  
“But it’s true, isn’t it? I mean it’s mainly ’cause of everything you did and said that she’s so unsure about being here.”  
“True.” He started eating. “Shame we can’t even be like that in our own apartment though.”  
“Only when we have guests over.”  
“Yeah.”  
The rest of the meal the trio talked about all kinds of things. Anjerika also revealed the reason for her visit: she wanted to take Cathy dress shopping.  
“Are you sure? Shouldn’t I look through brochures or something?”  
Anjerika smiled at her knowingly. “I’ve already been doing that for a while and have picked out the ones that best suit your style. We’ll go to the shops.”  
“Anjerika,” Cathy groaned. “When will you stop obsessing over my relationship with Karma?”  
“It’s not just that,” Anjerika said in a small voice. “It’s just that I want you to be happy and he’s clearly making you that. And I want to help you in whichever way I can.”  
Cathy covered her face in her hands. “Dammit. What did I ever do to deserve you guys?” She got up and looked away. “I’m gonna get ready now. Thanks for breakfast.”  
“You hardly ate anything,” Karma commented.  
“Not so hungry at the moment. Maybe later.”  
He looked at her seriously. “Are you alright?”  
“Fine.”  
“Cathy,” he insisted.  
“I’m fine, Karma,” she said resolutely before she disappeared into the bedroom.


	73. The perfect dress

The moment the women were out of the apartment, Anjerika pretty much shoved the brochure she had made with all the possible dresses. Cathy looked at them in wonder. “They’re all so beautiful. I can’t choose.” However, her eyes were still mainly glued to the red ones.  
“That’s why trying them on is important.” Anjerika pulled her arm. “C’mon.”  
The good thing was that the wedding dress shops were near each other. Cathy tried on her favourite ones, actually feeling uncomfortable in some way. One of the contributing factors to that feeling was how much Anjerika complimented her.  
Cathy smiled as she tried on her latest dress, a red one. The bottom wasn’t extremely frilly, making her swish it around to see how it went. She smiled, pleased. She walked out to show Anjerika, who ardently nodded in return.  
The dress was a plain strapless, red one. At the part where the bodice and bottom joined, a big red flower had been added. It had silver parts added to it as well.  
“So you like it?” Cathy asked unsurely.  
“Oh no, I don’t just like it, I love it,” Anjerika said with a grin. “It’s so beautiful and so you. Definily the red.”  
Cathy chuckled and shook her head. “Yeah. Can’t be helped.”  
“So we’re buying it?”  
She checked herself one last time in the mirror. “Yeah. I’m buying it.”


	74. Eventful evening

The day came for the parties.  
Anjerika, like always, was at the door more excited than anyone. She dragged Cathy out of the apartment, not even giving her the chance to properly say goodbye to Karma.  
Cathy freed herself from her friend. “So where we going?”  
A plotting smile formed on Anjerika’s lips. “Beside Karma, what’s the one thing you love the most in the world?”  
“Food,” she said without missing a beat.  
“Exactly. So we’re gonna have some fun making food and obviously you’ll be allowed to eat it all yourself or take it with you.”  
Cathy smiled shyly. “Thank you.”  
“Course. You actually know what Karma’s gonna do?”  
She squinted. “Yeah. Nagisa came up with the brilliant idea to take him paintballing. Dunno with how many people they’re going, but I feel sorry for them.”  
Anjerika laughed. “As do I. Let’s hope he at least shows some mercy.”  
“It’s a party for him, so I doubt very much that he’ll show any. It would’ve been nice to see.”  
“As nice as the food that we’re gonna cook?”  
Cathy shook her head with a smile. “Who knows? As long as we both have fun, that’s all that really matters.”  
They met outside up with Yuki and went to the place where they would make chocolates. First Cathy was slightly confused by the fact, she had made chocolates in the past, so why this? But when the instructor explained what kinds of chocolates they would be making, she smiled – all different kinds and all for her. This really was going to be fun.  
She had the time of her life making them and talking with her friends. Afterwards they went to a restaurant and ordered whatever their hearts desired.  
As they were talking, they got approached by a man who was smiling broadly. “Fancy seeing you here, Pravina.”  
Cathy stopped eating and looked at the man seriously. “Do I know you?”  
Slight hurt entered the man’s eyes. “You really don’t remember me? I was in your class at university.”  
She shook her head. “Sorry. But it was a big class and I don’t remember everyone there. With what can I help you?”  
“You seem to be having a fun time. Mind if I join?”  
Her eyes became more tired. “No. This is a women’s only event. No men allowed.”  
“Huh? What for?” As he was talking, he neared her.  
She held up her left hand and showed him her ring finger. “Bachelorette do if you will.” She smiled stiffly. “So if you don’t mind.”  
He caught his breath. “That guy, that red-head, you’re still with him?”  
Her smile became broader, though she still had a cold look in her eyes. “Yeah. We’re getting married soon. So if you don’t mind.” She made a slight shooing gesture with her hand.  
Instead of doing as requested, he just stared at her. “How is that possible? He looked like such an asshole; you were so often annoyed by him. I could see it. Do all the good ones really just go for the jerks?”  
“Excuse me?” she said with scorn. “He may be annoying, _maybe_ sometimes an asshole, but that does not give _you_ the right to talk about him like that, you get that. You don’t have any idea what goes on with us behind the scenes. How much love and respect we have for each other; how much fun we have on a daily basis with each other; how every morning I know that I am loved because the first thing he does is cuddle with me.” She was standing up and looking at him, a dangerous glint in her eyes. “Now get lost before I ruin your night and maybe even the rest of your life.”  
He nodded and left quickly, fear in his eyes.  
Cathy sighed and sat down. “Dammit.”  
“Are you okay?” Yuki asked in a soft voice.  
Even though she could feel tears welling up in her eyes, she smiled at her friend weakly. “Yeah. Fine. Just really horrible that someone would think that of him.” She looked at the pair unsurely. “You’ve known the two of us for years, but if you just saw us together, would you think that of him?”  
Anjerika and Yuki looked at each other.  
“Decent amount of the time, it does look like it. But you can see that he’s teasing you and everything. You both look so happy after all,” Anjerika said.  
A sad smile formed on her lips. “Yeah. So stupid that a dude had to ruin it.”  
“There’s no need for you to think that it is ruined, Cathy. We still have the rest of the evening ahead of us,” Yuki said with a kind smile.  
“True.”  
The rest of the evening, the women talked and talked, pretending like the earlier encounter hadn’t happened.  
Cathy made it back to the apartment and opened the door. “Karma?” she called out. She caught a whiff of something and smelt. “Dammit, you seriously bring that paint crap smell in here?”  
A chuckle could be heard from the bathroom. He stuck his head out. “Welcome back, dear. Don’t worry, I’ll get them properly cleaned in no time and air this place out. How was it?”  
She held up a bag with her box of chocolates. “Made some chocolates.”  
He came out of the bathroom and went over to her. “Nice. Try ’em out yet?”  
She shook her head. “Some. But wanted my tum to be empty enough for the dinner. How was the paintballing?”  
He grinned. “Fun. I have to say, they put up a valiant fight, but I still won.”  
She chuckled. “I expected nothing less of you, Karma. Hope you showed at least some mercy.”  
He shook his head. “They knew what they were getting into.”  
Her smile turned disbelieving. “You idiot.” She looked unsurely at the floor. “We could try the chocolates if you want.”  
He looked at her seriously. “You okay?”  
She started nodding her head, but decided against it and shook it. She put her bag down on the floor and hugged him tightly. “No matter what I say or do, know that I love you more than anything, Karma.”  
He was surprised by the action and the words, but managed to regain enough composure to hug her back. “What happened?”  
“Old classmate from university,” she said in a muffled voice. “Said bad things about you. And I don’t understand, how people only see me being annoyed at you. I mean, I totally failed to hide my love for you at work.”  
He rubbed her back in comfort. “So I should act nicer when we’re out together, ey?”  
She shook slightly. “But you wouldn’t be you then. Because you are annoying, but you’re also so amazing. I love you as a whole. But I don’t know what to do because I don’t want people to think you’re something you’re not.”  
“And why does it matter what they think of me?”  
“Your career,” she said in a small voice.  
“Good thing everyone I work with knows what I’m like. Any other reason?”  
Her voice became even quieter when she said, “I guess I just hate it. That they don’t see your beauty the way I do. Obviously they wouldn’t first thing seeing you, even after a few times, but for them to think something bad about you while you’re one of the best people out there is so horrible. You don’t deserve that.”  
“I guess you would think that, wouldn’t you?” he said in a comforting voice. “But you know, it really doesn’t matter. ’Cause it’d be like asking everyone ’round to like me. And we both know how unlikely that is. You don’t like everyone you meet, nor does everyone like you even though you’re the kindest woman I know. But I’ll start acting nicer, okay? Just for a bit. See how things go.”  
She let out a soft sob as she held onto his shirt. “You’re such an idiot.”  
He kissed her temple. “I love you too, dear.” He continued holding her until she eventually calmed down.


	75. The big day

This was finally it. They were staring at each other lovingly with the biggest grins on their faces. They had said their vows and now the officiate said that they were allowed to kiss each other. Instead of his usual bowing down and kissing, however, Karma picked up his now-wife and kissed her. When he released her from the kiss he could see that she was looking at him with the usual disbelieving look, though this time with extreme love in her eyes as well.  
He put her down and not a second later he was being pulled down by his tie. Then his lips were locked with her again. This in term reminded him how much he loved her and how embarrassing it was becoming. She pulled away and her grin had somehow grown.  
His grin turned demonic. “I’m really glad I get to spend the rest of my life with you, sweetheart.”  
She giggled. “As am I, you idiot. I love you.”  
“I love you too, dear.”  
As the couple continued staring at each other, the officiate cleared his throat. Cathy let go of the tie and allowed her husband to straighten up. Everyone left the room and headed towards the reception area.  
“Hey, Cathy,” Karma said.  
“Yes, Karma?” she said, looking up at him.  
“You know the way I sometimes carry you is called bridal style, right?”  
She could already tell this was going to be embarrassing. “So?”  
“So, why not do it now? Considering you’re my bride.”  
She looked at him with squinted eyes conveying pure disbelief. “No.”  
“Awww, why not, sweetheart? It’ll be fun,” he sang in his Southern accent.  
She rubbed her face, though the smile could still be seen on her face. “And yet again, I question how I fell for you.”  
“That’s easy. You’ve said how plenty of times. Would you like me to recite some to you?” He held himself up, prepared to embarrass her to kingdom come.  
Though the mere suggestion was enough, she shook her head. “No. Just shut up and pick me up already.”  
“Anything you say, ma’am.” He did what he had wanted to do and held her high.  
She in turn looked at him with serious, loving eyes and stroked his face. Then she buried her head in his shoulder. Soon after soft sobbing could be heard.  
“Cathy?” Karma said worriedly, wondering whether anything he had done had upset her somehow.  
“Happy tears,” she said, not removing her head from his shoulder. “Gods, I love you so much and I can’t believe I got to marry you.”  
The tables had turned yet again. He was now starting to blush which was increasing by the second. “Of course. There’s no way that I wouldn’t marry the woman of my dreams.”  
“What?” She removed her head from his shoulder and wiped away any stray tears.  
“You heard me. Like I’ve said before, you’re amazing and the perfect girlfriend. In short, the woman of my dreams. My everything.”  
She shook slightly as a giggle escaped her lips. “Dammit, Karma, you could have just as well said that during our vows.”  
“Guess I didn’t think of it then. Was a little nervous, if you can believe that.”  
“Gods, you really are my idiot.” She kissed him. Then she held up her ring. “Till the day we die.”  
“Though maybe in the afterlife,” he said thoughtfully.  
“You actually believe in that?”  
He shrugged. “If it means spending more time with you, I’ll believe in whatever I want, sweetheart.”  
She groaned and lent against his chest again, her arms around his neck. “Can’t you just not embarrass me for today, please? It’s my wedding day.”  
“But shouldn’t this day also show what’s to come in the future?”  
“You wearing more suits?”  
He chuckled. “Cathy, I already wear suits to work. D’you also want me to wear them at home or something?”  
She grinned at him. “Maybe.”  
He placed his forehead against hers. “Maybe when I feel like it, sweetheart. But now it’s time for my eternal rival.”  
She chuckled. “Yeah. So can you please put me down, now?”  
“’Course, dear,” he lightly placed her on the ground, making sure not to mess her hair up in anyway.  
Once she was down on her feet, she grinned up at him. “You really do look beautiful today, Karma, my eternal demon.” Then she opened the door, knowing full well that she had just made him blush.  
Though his face was pretty much the same colour as his hair now, he still followed her, like he always would. _I should have called you that more today,_ he thought, admiring her. _Because this is one of those few moments when cute doesn’t even do you service as to how good you look in that dress._  
Then the feast began. There were multiple courses, all small so in the end there would be enough space left for the cake. On the top of the cake there were figures, one man and one woman. The man, in a suit, was holding the waist the woman in a wedding dress. Somehow the person who had made these figurines had managed to copy Karma’s red hair. Though that was the only similarity. The couple had asked for a smile, but the end product had turned out more creepy than anything. This hadn’t dissuaded Cathy, who had started laughing at the figurine when she had seen it. It had even made her want to use it even more. And since Karma had been in no state to say no to that laughing woman, he agreed to it.  
So now here they were. Standing in front of the cake with the two strange looking figurines on top. They took the knife, all their guests watching in anticipation, and cut the cake.  
Once the cake had been eaten, Karma said in her ear, “Wanna dance?”  
She rolled her eyes with an amused smile. “What’s the point of asking? You know it was planned into all of this.”  
“Still gotta ask. Maybe you suddenly got cold feet.”  
She looked at him challengingly. “Oh, you wish, Karma. I think you’re the one who’s getting nervous. I mean it is a very romantic song after all.”  
He grinned with a playful look in his eyes. “Are you suggesting I’m not familiar with romance?”  
“I’d say not really no, but enough to make me want to be by your side forever.”  
He chuckled and took her hand. “Let’s show ’em what we got then, sweetheart.”  
“Yes, sir.” She followed him onto the dance floor.  
The soft music of ‘All of Me’ by John Legend started playing. Even though they had started the dance holding hands, the hands had moved to around the other. They hardly seemed to be moving, just swaying slightly. It was just the two of them; no one else seemed to matter.  
The guests didn’t seem to mind however, since some of them were smiling broadly at the couple. Then the music stopped. But the couple were still embracing each other.  
“Would you mind if we spent the rest of our lives like this?” Karma asked quietly.  
Cathy shook her head. “I would not mind one bit. Though we’d probably starve to death if this is the only thing we do.”  
He laughed. “Good point.” He knelt down and kissed the corner of her mouth. “I love you, Cathy.”  
She giggled. “Karma, that’s the second time today.”  
“So? I’m gonna say it as much as I want. The amount of times I say it won’t decrease the meaning.”  
Her voice turned soft and she looked at him lovingly. “True. Because I have a feeling that I’m also gonna say that a lot in our future.”  
“Along with calling me ‘such an idiot’.”  
She laughed and hid her head in his chest. “It’d otherwise be too boring if I just said that the whole time anyway. And I mean, you really are one.”  
He picked her up again so they were eye to eye. He placed his nose against hers and grinned at her. “And I’m yours.”  
Being at the same height as him for a change while he was talking to her like that definitely was not helping her stay calm. A blush started forming on her cheeks. “Shut up,” she said, though she couldn’t hide the pitch in her voice.  
“When I feel like it.” He looked towards the guests. “It seems like the wife needs a rest. You guys can have your fun now.”  
He carried her to the side.  
“Gods, I hate you so much, Karma.”  
He chuckled. “It’s funny that that’s also becoming a thing.”  
She looked at him annoyed. “You think? Karma, we quite literally flirted in front of our guests.”  
“You prefer if we just kept it simple without talking?”  
“Gods, I dunno. But I don’t think it’s something that we should do. We manage not to draw too much attention when we’re at work, but we still really suck at not being like this in other public places.”  
“Though this is our wedding, so I don’t see why we should be anything else.”  
“I know, okay? I dunno. I’m really proud to have you as my husband now and of course would love to show it to the world. I guess...I just don’t want to make people uncomfortable.”  
“Really?”  
“Yes, really. I mean, ok, people can also think we’re being all cute ’n’ stuff, but other people would be really freaked out by it as well.”  
“And why should we care about them?”  
“Human decency.”  
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Oh, sweetheart, you are so great. You never cared when I beat up whoever and pulled pranks, but now you’re worried about people feeling uncomfortable because I love showing how much I love you.”  
She was lost for words. “Yeah. You’re right, okay. I dunno. Guess we should just see how things work out.”  
“Great, of course. Like us.”  
She leant against him. “I never thought I’d actually question how I fell for you on our wedding day.”  
He put her down on a chair and sat down next to her. “I’ve still got that list if you really wanna know.”  
“No. I don’t want you to get an immense ego boost today. Why would you even keep such a thing?”  
He shrugged with a playful smile. “Just ’cause. Also got a list with all the great things and stuff that helped me fall for you. Don’t think it’s complete though. Would take ages.”  
Her face was becoming redder by the second. She covered it with her hands and leant on the table. “Karma,” she groaned.  
He started stroking her head. “Yes, dear?”  
“How are you even real?”  
His hand stopped as a blush started forming on his cheeks as well. “What?”  
“It’s just you are so imperfect and yet so perfect in so many ways. The way you are, everything about you, it’s just difficult to believe that you’re just a simple human. You have your human moments, it’d be weird if you didn’t, but beside that, you’re just like some ethereal being. One that ended up falling for me, a human. It’s not that I don’t believe that you love me, I know damn well that you do, it’s just you are the definition of perfection in so many ways.”  
The red head got struck silent as the blush started forming more and more on his cheeks. She had called him perfect a few times in the past, the term ‘perfect boyfriend’ had been used plenty of times. But hardly ever before had she called him, as a person, perfect and definitely never in such detail. He wanted to tell her why he loved her as much as he did then and there, but his mouth had been sewn shut of embarrassment. So instead he nuzzled her head and kissed it. _You have no idea how grateful I am that you are a part of my life, Cathy._


	76. So full

Once back in the apartment, Cathy let herself fall on the sofa with her hand on her stomach. “Damn, I’m full and exhausted.”  
“Well you shouldn’t have eaten so much. I told you so, didn’t I?” he said from behind the sofa.  
She looked at him annoyed. “And you expect me to listen to that?”  
“As my wife, I would like you to.” He leant on the sofa.  
Her face turned a shade darker as she looked away from him. “You think you can boss me around now that I’m your wife?”  
“Considering you do it a lot, I don’t see why not. Change things up a bit.”  
“Karma.” She got up on her knees and faced him. He neared her with an expecting smile. “Can you please stop being such an idiot for once, please?”  
He stuck out his tongue. “Nah. ’Cause the way you react to me being one is too great to pass off, my beautiful bride.”  
She fell back on the sofa, covering her reddening face. “Fine. Keep the crown. What’dya wanna do?”  
He checked the time. “Are you sure you can’t eat anymore?”  
“You serious?” She looked into his golden eyes and saw just how serious he was. “I mean...maybe I could eat a bit. Your cooking’s better than most after all.”


	77. Honeymoon of horror

The next day they woke up nice and early, ready for their honeymoon trip to Athens. Neither of them were one for waking up early, but the moment she heard her alarm Cathy shot out of bed and shook Karma, telling him to get up.  
He in turn smiled. “I’d rather wake up a different way than being shaken.”  
She sighed and leant down and kissed him. “It’s time to get up, you beautiful sleeping idiot. Otherwise I’ll leave without you.”  
He chuckled and got up. “That’d be interesting. Are you sure you’d be fine on your own?”  
“I have a plan of everything I want to see, so I don’t really need you there,” she said with a teasing smile.  
“Won’t you be lonely?” he asked as they walked towards the kitchen.  
She shrugged. “I’ll have all this beautiful art to admire, so I don’t think so.” She turned towards him with a grin. “Though I have to say, you’ll probably still take the top spot.”  
He chuckled as a small blush formed on his cheeks. “Wow. It’s our first day as a married couple and you’ve already won the crown back.”  
Her grin broadened, as well as the playful look in her eyes increasing. “Well maybe the stereotype of the woman always winning in the marriage will turn out to be true.”  
“That’d be something. It’d still be a total flip then.” He shrugged. “I don’t mind, as long as you’re happy.”  
“I was right,” she said in a small voice, as she continued towards the kitchen. “You are going to be the perfect husband.”  
He put his arms around her waist and kissed her on the forehead. “’Course. Anything for my perfect wife.”  
She looked up at him, almost buckling at the reality of everything that was happening. She was fine with calling him her husband. Though it was still something she had to get used to, she liked the way it sounded. But for him to call her his wife in that great voice of his was just so great. She almost felt like crying again.  
“Hey, you cutie,” he said in her ear.  
She shot back to the present and looked at him. “What?”  
“Why you staring like that? It’s adorable, but now’s not really the time.”  
“Um...reasons.”  
He laughed. “Best response of the year. So, do you think you can continue towards the kitchen without getting distracted again?”  
“Of course.” She walked towards the kitchen. Breakfast was made and after everything was done, they went to the airport. This trip was longer than the one before – 16.30 hours. Luckily it had some intermitting stops for people to get some fresh air.

They eventually arrived and Cathy let out a long sigh once she came out of the plane. “I want to sleep for a week.”  
“That’d be an interesting turn of events. Instead of travelling, you get to sleep. Might also rest then or do something else.”  
She groaned. “People who say that the relationship doesn’t change overnight once two people are married are right. You don’t have to take everything I say seriously, Karma.”  
“How’d I know when not to?” he asked innocently.  
“By using common sense. I know, for an idiot like yourself, it’s difficult to come by. But I know you have it in there somewhere.”  
“Maybe you can help me find it.”  
She laughed. “Maybe. That’d be a whole different kind of trip then.”  
They picked up their luggage and left the airport. Then they got a taxi to the hotel they had reserved for the trip. Once there, Cathy couldn’t help but admire the architecture of the place. “Wow. They sure were talented.”  
“Yeah. It all looks really cool.” Though he was also commenting on the architecture, his eyes were mainly on his smiling wife. Everything. She was everything that he had ever wanted and he had her now, as his wife. He didn’t tend to want to do things with her, but the one thing he wanted was to hold her for eternity. He grabbed onto her hand and he could feel that she immediately held onto it tightly.  
“Let’s go check in,” she said with a gentle smile.  
He nodded, not wanting to break the silence that followed her voice. Once they were checked in they took the lift to the right floor, where the honeymoon suits were.  
They opened the door and as expected, the room was covered from head to toe in rose petals and other romantic stuff.  
“Should have told them not to do it,” she said, regrettably looking at the petals. “How do people even sleep with those here?”  
“Probably too caught up in the mood to care about that.”  
She snickered. “True. Luckily we’re level headed enough not to be.”  
“Wanna get rid of ’em?” he asked as she continued looking at the petals.  
“That’d be one hell of a way to spend our first night here together.” She looked at him. “Let’s just shake the bed covers and clean up the rest tomorrow.”  
“Sounds like a plan.”  
The newlyweds lifted up the bed covers and shook it. The petals fell onto the floor, at the foot of the bed.  
“You brought the DVD’s over?”  
“Yeah. In my luggage. Wanna watch ’em now?”  
“Yeah. Let me just slip into something more comfortable,” she said as she started looking through her luggage.  
He chuckled. “Cathy, you do realise how inappropriate that sounds, right?”  
She got up and showed him her pyjamas. “Well, it’s the truth, isn’t it?”  
“That it is. Then we can also marathon them late into the night.”  
“You want me get nightmares or something?”  
“Anything to make you snuggle closer to me.”  
She shook her head. “We’ll see about that. I’m going to get changed now.”  
“Yes, ma’am.”  
Once in the bathroom she pretty much jumped into the air ecstatically. She wouldn’t be caught dead doing anything like this, but she was just so happy that she couldn’t stop herself. Everything, everything she had ever wanted was here. The man she loved the most in the world, now her husband, with her to the place she had wanted to go the most in the world, Athens. She half expected to be woken up from some dream to be told that none of this was real. That was possible. But the thing was; it was real. She remembered everything that had happened clearly. All of her senses had also told her as much. She started giggling.  
“Cathy, you alright?” Karma asked, knocking on the door.  
“Yeah. Fine.” She could not hide the happiness in her voice. “Just wait a sec.” She got changed and went back to the bedroom. She was still grinning from ear to ear.  
Karma had also changed into his pyjamas and was now looking at her amused. “Mind telling me what that cute sound coming from the bathroom was all about?”  
Instead of answering, another giggle escaped her lips. She shook her head. Her brain had lost all control and was now fully fangirling about the whole situation. A thing that certainly wasn’t helping was how he was looking at her. He didn’t near her or anything; he just looked with a pleased smile and love in his eyes. It was like he was silently waiting, not minding if the rest of the evening was spent like this.  
Eventually she managed to calm herself down enough to go sit on the bed next to him. She was already holding onto him before the movie even started. “Thank you for everything, Karma,” she said, barely louder than a whisper.  
“Nothing,” he said embarrassed. “Wanna watch now or just talk?”  
“Watching now’s good. And I’m already in the right position for if things turn out to be too scary.”  
“True,” he stroked her head. He picked up the remote and pressed the play button, starting the first horror movie that he had picked out.


	78. Sweetest feeling

As expected, Cathy hadn’t been able to sleep much. Between her brain being scared about the movies and its constant reminder that the man sleeping next to her was now in fact her husband, it had been difficult to fall asleep. So sometimes, she had woken up and looked at him with admiration. _You’re truly a god in your own way, Karma._ She had kissed him on the cheek afterwards.  
Karma on the other hand had loved the movies. So he had slept peacefully. Though sometimes his eyes had opened a bit to look at the woman who had been sleeping next to him. And then his hand had gone to her head, softly stroking her hair. She had been clearly aware of it to a certain degree; the change in facial features said as much, but apart from that he got nothing.  
Cathy got up after her alarm went off which she switched off. She looked down and saw Karma still peacefully sleeping with a satisfied smile on his face. She giggled. “Get up before I actually leave you here.”  
His eyes opened and he looked at her lovingly. “You could have gone without saying those words, sweetheart.”  
“But where would be the fun then?”  
“Good point.” Then his hand reached out to her, pulling her closer. “But what if I say you’re not allowed to get up yet?”  
“What? No.” She was already giggling. “Let go.”  
Instead of doing as requested, he held her tighter. “Nah. You belong here, sweetheart,” he said softly. “With me, forever.”  
She knew there was no way to fight the cuddling that was bound to come, so she allowed it, while looking at him lovingly. “You’re the best.”  
He smiled and kissed her cheek. “Of course.”  
Cathy really did feel at home in those arms and was starting to feel sleepy again. Soon enough she realised it and said, “Karma.”  
“Yes, sweetheart?”  
She was fighting back the embarrassment as she said, “We … should get going, right?”  
“Sure you wanna, sweetheart?” he said in his Southern accent.  
Instead of using her hand to face palm, she used his chest. “Yes. We have a lot of stuff to do.”  
He slowly but surely let go of her. “Ok. Wanna shower first or shall I?”  
“I’ll go first. Feel weird after watching two horror movies after each other.”  
“You did great though,” he said as he straightened himself up. “You watched the whole thing without looking away.”  
“Well, yeah. I didn’t want to miss any of the important bits. And it’d suck if I did and you wanted to talk about it later.”  
He smiled at her playfully. “Wouldn’t have minded tellin’ you ’bout the plot points then.”  
“Oh, yeah. And you’d totally do that without being distracting. Nice try, Karma, but you’ll have to try a lot harder to fool me.”  
“Probably yeah.”

Once they had gotten changed and done all of the important things, they ordered room service. It was possible to eat at the restaurant on the ground floor, but for the moment they still wanted it to be the two of them. Soon enough the employee carrying the breakfast tray arrived. He handed over the food and bid them a good day.  
“Ok. So this is important. We’ve never had Greek food before, so this can make or break the rest of the day.”  
“Guess that’s what happens when you have high expectations of something.”  
“Yeah, look at you,” she said while inspecting her food.  
He smiled intrigued. “When?”  
“I thought you’d be this amazing genius, turns out you’re nothing but a really smart idiot.”  
“Makes sense. If you’re wondering, I thought you were a sweet, interesting cute girl. Instead I got an amazing, interesting girl that I couldn’t help but be drawn to.”  
She eyed him suspiciously. “Sure you couldn’t.” Then she stuffed a piece of food in her mouth. “It’s actually pretty good.”  
“Can I have some?”  
Her smile turned amused. “First try your food before you try stealing mine.”  
“Will do, ma’am,” he said cheerfully and bit into his breakfast. “Also good. Wanna try some?” He held up his full fork and indicated it.  
“First time for everything, huh.” Her eyes moved from the fork to him. “I would love to try some, sir.”  
Before the embarrassment could creep up on him too much, he held the fork to her mouth. Which she in turn ate out of with a broad smile.  
“C’mon, dear. You must have seen that one coming,” she said teasingly.  
He held down his head in defeat. “I got too caught up in the moment to think of that.”  
She held her spoon to his mouth. “You wanna try?”  
He looked at her fondly. “Yes.” He ate the food. “You’re right, it is good. Dunno which one’s better though.”  
“Swap half way?”  
“Sounds good.”  
The couple finished their breakfast.


	79. My Devil King in Athens

Once breakfast was finished, Cathy almost dragged Karma to the ground floor. She wasn’t going to miss anything. She had her plan, where to be at what time and how long it would presumably take. The presumably was because she had a feeling that no matter where they went they would end up talking a lot along with admiring everything.  
The couple got a taxi. Their first stops were the Parthenon, later they would visit the Acropolis. “Oh, dear gods above,” she said in wonder when she saw it.  
He chuckled. “This is one of the few times that that saying actually makes sense.”  
“Yeah. We should check the stuff out, right?”  
“That is why we’re here. Scared, maybe or nervous?”  
“No,” she said in a small voice. Though nervous most definitely was the right word to describe how she was feeling. She had only ever seen this in pictures and yet here she was, witnessing the stunning architecture in person. She could see every detail and knew that it had undoubtedly taken years to finish it all. She couldn’t imagine doing something like that in person. “They were all so talented,” she said barely louder than a whisper.  
“Guess you could say that, yeah,” Karma said, looking from one of the pillars to her. “But just like with everyone else’s so called talents, we don’t know how hard they actually worked on it. We know it took years and every detail had to be perfect before it was built. They were also less technologically advanced than us. We’re only witness to the end result.”  
She laughed softly. “Yeah. Of course. Turns out you’re still capable of being right even though now you’re my husband.”  
“True. Want to keep count?”  
“What? Of how many times each of us is right?”  
He shrugged. “We did it when we played games at my place, so why not?”  
“Because we can’t just stop a conversation to write down who’s right and not.”  
“Are you sure, dear?”  
She rubbed her face. “I must have been hit hard on my head for me to fall for you.”  
“I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I’d notice that.”  
She sighed. “So, let’s say if we decide to do this, and that’s a very big if, for how long?”  
“Coupla years. See if there are any significant changes over time.”  
“Good. ’Cause I don’t want us to end up as too old people counting who’s wrong and right. It’d be such a pain at that age.”  
He chuckled. “It’d be kinda funny, though.”  
She couldn’t hide her smile when she said, “No, Karma, it wouldn’t be.” She said in a softer voice, “Though then again, it would be nice to continue doing stuff we like doing together even when we’re old.”  
Before the rest of the visitors could see his reddening face, he hid it in his wife’s shoulder. “At least there’s one thing here you’re definitely winning,” he said in a small voice.  
She tried not to giggle too loudly. “Oh, my dear Karma, it’s so cute that you get so embarrassed by stuff like that.”  
He straightened up, though there were still obvious remnants from his blush. “Can’t help it. The voice you use then just sounds really nice.”  
“What voice?” she asked playfully. “Do you mean this one?” she said in her soft voice.  
He nodded.  
“Strange I never noticed that before. Maybe I can start using it as revenge against your accent.”  
His smile turned demonic. “Oh, I’d like to see you try, sweetheart,” he said in his Southern accent.  
She shook slightly. “Maybe not just yet. We should get going. There are still a lot of things to see and even though I added us talking like this to them, this still can’t take too long.” She held onto his hand and continued talking.  
“’Pears our honeymoon’s more about seeing the sites than spending time together then.”  
“Bit of both,” she said with a guilty smile.  
Though in the end, he did not mind one bit. Because the thing was, as they went from site to site, admiring everything, his eyes were mainly glued to her, her smile. It was the same smile that he had seen all those years ago when she had watched the rocket leave. A smile that was making him fall in love with her over and over again.  
He stopped and wrapped his arms around her waist.  
“Karma?” she asked, scared that something had happened that she hadn’t noticed.  
“Never leave me. Promise. Never.” His head was on her shoulder, so only she could hear the words.  
Her heart was beating double, maybe even triple, its normal speed. The seriousness in his voice definitely was not helping. She opened her mouth, for a second no words came out. She calmed herself. “Of course not. I married you for a reason, to spend the rest of my life with you. We signed a paper as well promising it. And you are the ruler of my heart and I won’t let you be anything else.”  
Instead of saying anything in return, he buried his head in her shoulder. “Is it alright if I hold you for longer?”  
She knew that there was undoubtedly a blush on her cheeks. “Yeah. Not sure if this is the best place though.”  
“Yeah.” He got up, one of his hands still around her waist.  
As they continued walking to somewhere more appropriate, Cathy asked, “Is everything okay? If there’s something I did to make you think that I don’t love you as much as I do, I’m sorry.”  
He shook his head. “No. It’s not that. It’s...that you do love me. I never thought I’d have someone in my life to make me feel so complete. But everything we’ve done together from the first day, it’s just made me so happy. And I’m glad that I can do the same for you. You are so strong and you are mine.”  
“Um...thanks,” she said unsurely.  
He stroked her head with his free hand. “And then there are also those cute moments as well which I really love.”  
She laughed. “Oh gods, I love you.”  
“Huh? No calling me an idiot?”  
She shook her head with an affectionate smile. “No. Because at the moment you’re just being the amazing genius that I love more than anything.”  
“Now I understand why you hate it so much when I embarrass you,” he said in a small voice, realising that he was starting to blush again.  
She stuck out her tongue. “And so my ruling days continue.”  
They found a lone bench on the side of a path.  
“That one good?”  
“Yeah.” He sat on it and looked at her pensively.  
“How’d you want me to sit?”  
“Sideways lap.”  
She did as requested. Not a second later he had both arms wrapped around her, holding her close. She leant against his chest. “Are you sure you’re alright, Karma?”  
“I guess my emotions work differently than yours. I want to cry now, like you did on our wedding day. It’s just the tears won’t come. I’m so happy and they’re right, the wedding day is the best day of one’s life. I’m sorry.”  
She softly guided his head back to her shoulder and stroked it. “It’s fine. I’ve had that in the past as well. I don’t know why, but it happens sometimes. But I know everything will be fine. Everything always is when you’re involved, because you’re just that great. So don’t worry, okay, Karma?”  
He didn’t respond. But she could feel her shoulder becoming slightly wetter.  
She kissed his forehead. “I guess all we needed was a little pep talk.”  
He moved his head up and kissed her. “You’re truly an amazing wife, you know that right?”  
She giggled. “Considering you’ve called me an amazing girlfriend in the past, pretty much yeah.”  
“I wonder what life in hell’s like,” he mused, enough to his old self to be able to start teasing her again.  
“I heard it’s pretty hot and fiery. So I doubt anything we can’t handle.”  
“True. Maybe we’ll be able to overthrow it.”  
“Considering you’re already my Devil King, I don’t see why not. And with your job, you’ve also got some good past experience.”  
He chuckled. “Yeah. And it’d be cooler to have a king and queen than just one ruler.”  
She looked up at him. “But would we really be able to do it? ’Cause I doubt ruling hell has an end date. Maybe until someone better comes along, but before that, we’ll just be stuck like that.”  
“Can check out what it’s like when we get there. Maybe I can also take some of my toys.”  
She squinted at him. “You’re suggesting you overthrow the Devil King with mustard, wasabi, jalapeños, Hatch chiles or even ghost peppers?”  
He shrugged with a grin. “Yeah. Why not?”  
She couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all. “Maybe because we don’t know whether he has any senses.”  
“Good point. Maybe it’d distract him enough, though.”  
“Oh gods, we come up with the weirdest ideas. Let’s just leave the planning on all that for later.”  
“Probably best. This isn’t exactly the time to be planning stuff like that. We still have a lot of stuff to check out.”  
“Can we do that later?” she asked in a dreamy voice.  
“Why? I thought you wanted to see as many things as possible here,” he said confused.  
“Yeah. But the thing is, like you said before, a honeymoon should be about spending time together. And I’m really enjoying this alone time, Karma. So just, for a little bit, please.”  
He grinned. “You sure had me fooled, you little demoness. You’re gonna pay for that later.”  
“No,” she said between giggles, knowing full well what was going to happen. “I just didn’t know then.”  
He tightened his grip around her. “Too late for excuses now. You will pay, Cathy. Mark my words.”  
“Ok. Fine.” She kissed him. “My beautiful idiot.”  
He leant down for another one. “Good that you agreed, my beautiful queen.”


End file.
